How Many People Love You?
by GrimMoody
Summary: The second story of my between classic and X trilogy. This is the story where everything changes for our heroes, especially Proto Man.
1. Recap of Okkusenman

Hi guys, I'm back. How y'all doin'?

Alright, guys, I'm back with my sequel to Okkusenman, How Many People Love You?, and part two of my between 9 and X series. Before I get into the story, I wanted to do something first. I really hate the stories where you think they look interesting, but then you realize you have to go back and read the prequel to it just so you understand the premise. So, for convenience's sake, here is a summary in what happened in the previous installment, "Okkusenman", just so you don't have to go back and read it if you don't feel like it right now. I encourage you to do so later, because it is interesting, if I do say so myself (lol), and it's naturally more in depth. Bass fans should like it.

In any case, here's the summary, and I don't own Mega Man. I _pwn_ Mega Man!

...That was corny, wasn't it?

------- Okkusenman summary ------

Mega Man rushes to the hospital to find that Dr. Light has collapsed, and the medical doctors are saying that he's nearing the end of his life. To make matters worse, Dr. Wily has broken into the robot museum with the help of his new battle bots, the Armoroids, and released all of his previous robot master, with which he intends to initiate his final scheme for world conquest and revenge against Mega Man. To make matters even worse than that, Wily's only female robot master, the loyal and bubbly Crystal Bot who always calls him "Dad", has made friends with a naiive and unsuspicious Roll, and learns what happened to Dr. Light through her.

Bass grumpily returns to Skull Castle and demands for Dr. Wily to repair a broken Treble, who refuses. Wily has become disappointed in his most powerful robot, and won't do anything for him unless he behaves. Crystal Bot enters, and feeling sorry for Treble, volunteers to fix the wolf for him, despite being told by Elec Man to go repair the monitoring systems. Meanwhile, Mega Man is seriously damaged by the Armoroids, and as he is getting repaired, he learns that Wily was aided by an insider to get the robot masters' CPUs.

Dr. Wily isn't having a good day: several of his robot masters have turned on him, and are fighting and destroying his castle, as well as trying to spread the virus on their systems to the the non-affected robot masters. Wily orders Team 1 (Guts, Cut, Elec, Ice, Bomb, and Fire Man) to destroy the infected ones and sends Bass and the newly repaired Treble to go protect Crystal Bot as she and Team 5 (Napalm, Charge, Gyro, Gravity, Wave, Star, and Stone Man) investigate the source of the virus. They find a remote activation device that was meant to set off a program that had been installed on several robot masters' CPUs before Wily had recovered them. A new robot master, Signal Man, tells them that it was Dr. Nikola Cain who did it. Signal Man manages to damage Crystal Bot's teleportation and communications devices before he is destroyed by Bass.

Mega Man continues to investigate the insider, only to find out that the insider only helped Wily somewhat: they still wanted Wily to believe there was some resistance to retrieving the CPUs. As Mega Man is pondering this, he encounters Bass and Team 5. He equips his new super armor, which makes it much easier to defeat Bass. He and the other robot masters leave, only to discover that Crystal Bot has somehow disappeared. Unknown to them, she has made her way to Light Laboratories, quite happily helping Roll organize a storage room, using the opportunity to steal Mega Man's super armor data.

Bass, very irritated, searches for Crystal Bot, managing to find her and discover her false friendship with Roll. After scaring Roll off, Bass takes the teleport-incapable Crystal Bot onto Treble Jet, and they depart for Skull Island, only to be stopped by a second Cain robot master: Emit Man. Bass manages to defeat him, but Treble's flying circuitry has been damaged, and Crystal has to call for the Skull Cruiser to come and get them. In the meantime, Bass takes on a third Cain-bot, Psycho Man, whose mechaniloid army was planning to destroy the city. Mega Man arrives during this time and helps defeat the army. Before he can question Bass, he sees Crystal Bot watching the fight below and tells her that he's figured out her ruse, and that she won't be able to fool Roll any longer. The Skull Cruiser arrives, and Crystal, Bass, and Treble make their escape.

Wily scolds Bass for allowing Crystal to be hurt, and he repairs Crystal's communications device before going to bed and leaving Crystal to finish repairing the formerly infected Cain-bots. At Light Labs, Roll regrets being so naiive for trusting Crystal Bot. Auto searches Psycho Man's CPU, and discovers that Dr. Cain wants to be a greater villain than Wily, because he believes that he deserves to be more infamous. They also discover the identities of the remaining Cain-bots; Echelon Man, Bullet Man, Sight Man, Algorythm Man, and Epic Man. Back at Wily's castle, Crystal reveals her new lab assistant, the little pipi Bruce (AKA Clef), and tells Bass that she has made a new type of armor from the data she stole from Dr. Light and that is both stronger and lighter than anything Wily has ever made. She also says she'll install her energy crystals into Bass' buster arms, allowing him to shoot both at the same time and making his shots stronger. As she prepares his and Treble's upgrades, Wave Man reveals Crystal's shadowy past: she wasn't created by Wily, but by the now-dead Crystal Man, who made her with parts from Roll, Auto, and the mysterious Mega Man X. Crystal Man, however, was killed by Wily, who didn't appreciate him thinking he was smarter than his creator and trying to upgrade Team 5 behind his back.

Bass is still in the automatic machine where his upgrades are being installed, when Crystal Bot decides that she wants to go out and get some supplies so that she can create a new and more powerful anti-virus for the next time Cain shows up. In the town itself, Mega Man ponders over the previous night's battle, only to be interrupted by Echelon Man, whose powerful "heatshock" attack proves more devastating than Mega Man expected. Mega Man manages to defeat him, but he is trapped under a huge chunk of brick that once made up a wall, and Crystal Bot steals both Echelon Man's CPU and absorbable power. Crystal hacks the CPU, learning and telling Mega Man that the heatshock has hurt some of his inner systems, and that if he doesn't get the brick off of himself soon enough, he'll explode. Crystal, saying that she isn't that patient, approaches. Mega Man thinks she's going to kill him, but instead she merely frees him and repairs his inner coolant system, saying that she wants Bass to be the one to defeat him. Crystal gives Mega Man Dub the spider-bot, saying that Dub is Roll's new cleaning assistant. Dr. Wily, who has just repaired the monitoring systems in time to witness the entire exchange, is furious, and demands that Fire Man retrieve Crystal Bot and bring her back immediately. Bass, in the meantime, has finished being upgraded and leaves.

Mega Man discovers that Dub is just what Crystal claimed he was, and the spider-bot doesn't seem to have any weapons or any loyalty whatsoever to Wily. Confused, he nonetheless leaves, fearing what an upgraded Bass might do to the city. Crystal Bot, upon returning to Skull Island, is confronted by a furious Wily, who demands that she be reprogrammed. After a failed escape attempt in which she sends Bruce to find Bass, Elec Man shocks her, and she loses conciousness. Bass, impatient for Mega Man to show up, decides to provoke him by going to Dr. Light's hospital room. Dr. Light, very friendly, tries to sway Bass from his destructive ways, but the conversation has little affect on Bass, other than to persuade him that maybe Dr. Light was a better person than Bass had previously thought him to be. Mega Man, however, arrives, and it's back to business for Bass.

Bass, now more powerful than ever, is a very serious threat to Mega Man. They fight, but before the fight can conclude, Bruce shows up and tells Bass what happened to Crystal Bot. Very angry, Bass threatens Mega Man and leaves. After checking on Dr. Light, Mega Man encounters Wily, who informs him that he has made a robot that can wield an instant death spike for a weapon. Bass shows up again, and Wily reveals to them both that he's turned Crystal Bot into a mechaniloid fighter. Bass demands that Rock fight Wily, and he himself, after a failed attempt to tell her who her real creator was, fights Crystal Bot. However, he finds out that the crystals she installed in his arms prevent his busters from hurting her, and it's only with the surprising help of Gyro Man and Stone Man that he manages to defeat the ridiculously over-powered girl-bot. Finding a way to bypass his protocols, he manages to join Mega Man against Wily's boss-bot, only to find out that Wily can automatically self-destruct him. Mega Man, however, saves his life, and the two, joined by the remainder of Team 5, manage to defeat the boss-bot, leaving Mega Man to finish up and capture Wily himself. Mega Man allows the others, who have betrayed their master, to go to his labs and be repaired.

As Roll and Auto are getting ready to operate on the robot masters, Auto reveals that Crystal Bot's personality AI is gone, and that there is no way to repair her. Bass is upset, and he reveals to Roll that he was going to take Crystal Bot as his technician so that he could escape being bossed around and oppressed by Wily. Angry now that this plan is now impossible, and left with no other choice, he tells Roll that he wants her to remove his failsafes that force him to be loyal to Wily. He says that he won't try to kill Mega Man anymore, as he feels after Mega Man saved his life that defeating him would be pointless. However, as he is about to submit to this, Jewel Man shows up, and they find out that Crystal Man left programs on his CPU to not only reinstall Crystal's personality AI, but upgrade all of Team 5, as well as a bizarre set of blueprints to turn Roll into a fighter-bot. Bass, relieved that Crystal Bot is going to be alright, finally submits to having his failsafes removed so that he can recover Crystal Bot's memories.

As Bass is about to leave, he finds out that Dr. Wily has managed to escape Mega Man again, but this only gives him an idea. After recovering the memories and destroying Elec Man with the echelon heatshock, Bass takes Wily and brings him to justice, which Jewel Man and Mega Man witness on tv. Shortly afterwards, Bass, Rock, Team 5, and Team 9 (Jewel, Magma, Hornet, Plug, Tornado, Galaxy, Concrete Man, and Splash Woman), all go to destroy Skull Castle.

Crystal Bot awakes while they are gone, and is shocked to learn what Wily has done to her, how her entire team has departed from Wily, and how Bass has given up on defeating Rock. However, she finally finds out about Crystal Man, and it cheers her up to see the footage of Elec Man being defeated. Team 5 decides to clear out Star Man's space station and establish it as their new base, and as they do, Bass, surprisingly, keeps Dr. Light company in the hospital until his release. After his release, Dr. Light goes with Roll to Florida for a vacation, while Rock and Team 5 remain to keep a close eye on Dr. Cain. Bass and Crystal Bot depart for Russia with Dr. Cossack to see if they can discover the location of Zero and destroy him.

And in the meantime, Dr. Cain has learned his lessons well. Though quiet, he's been making his preparations. He won't be defeated so easily this time....


	2. A Merry Christmas

The lights were brilliant. Trees and garlands sparkled with seasonal lights and shone with golden ornaments, and the crowds of people doing last minute shopping filled downtown Monstropolis, each happy (or stressed out) and going about their business. A few of them looked up into the sky, wishing for snow. But none of them noticed the rather impressive robot that watched over them all. The midnight blue robot blended in almost perfectly with the night sky.

_"That's right..."_ the robot remarked to himself, in his thoughts, as he peered at the people with his poisonous green eyes. _"It's Christmas Eve. Shame, this would be a perfect time to begin the plan...heh, the master is a sentimental one. Oh well, let there be at least one more 'silent night' for the humans."_

Epic Man chuckled a little from his perch on Kauffman Tower. Just out of a jolly boredom, he converted his left hand into a buster and pretended to shoot at the crowd. He imagined the people screaming and running as he took aim and mock fired. Chuckling again, he settled down. Epic Man, though a bit impatient, was perfectly happy. He liked his design, especially the large spike that adorned and extended from his left shoulder, his clawed hands, and his heavy, spiked boots. He even liked the two strange antennae that sprouted from the front part of his helmet and bent back over his head in an almost insect-like manner, though they didn't seem to serve any specific purpose.

But most of all Epic Man liked the plans that Dr. Cain had prepared for them. It was going to be a good year. The midnight robot leaned back against the window, continuing to watch.

_"Go about your business, little people. Don't mind me...I'm only the victor over your little blue champion and the harbringer of your doom."_

-t-

Christmas was beautiful in Monstropolis, even without snow. Mega Man always enjoyed that time of year, and he especially loved that Dr. Light was doing well, and even though he had been confined to a wheelchair, the doctor seemed a jolly as usual, and not at all senile. As Mega Man traveled the halls of the lab to reach the hangar, he couldn't help think of how nice a Christmas it was going to be. He arrived at the large hangar bay, and engaged the bay doors, and the large panels drew back to reveal the clear sky, completely cloudless. As Mega Man went to the observation console at the back of the large room, he noticed that someone else had beaten him there.

"Ah, there you are, Jewel Man." Mega Man greeted his friend. "How long have you been waiting here?"

"Eh, all morning." The bejeweled robot said sheepishly. "I haven't seen her in a long time, and I'm eager to see how she's doing. But I guess they must be almost here, if you came and opened the doors."

Mega Man nodded. "Yeah, Bass just signalled me. He and Crystal Bot will be here in a couple minutes. It's really too bad that they got delayed by the weather and weren't able to be here yesterday. Dr. Light was really looking forward to seeing them."

Jewel Man frowned, sneering slighly. "I really hope Dr. Light lives a long time. Without him, I don't know how we'll keep Bass under control."

Mega Man just shook his head. "You shouldn't worry about him. I'm confident that Bass is on the side of good!"

"You're confident about everything."

It was probably true, but the blue bomber still didn't care about Jewel Man's opinion. He thought the best of people, and he liked thinking the best of people. Besides, it was nice that another robot was defending justice with him, even though he was on some strange mission that he didn't talk about, Rock was certain it was for the good of the earth. Bass probably knew more about threats from Wily than he did, so Mega Man gave him the benefit of the doubt.

Jewel Man was growing impatient. "How come they couldn't just teleport here? We have the super teleporter for going to Team 5's space station. Won't that work?"

"No, it won't. The super teleporter works more or less on the basis of a straight line. Since the earth is curved, and since they're pretty much on the other side of it, they can't teleport through the ground." Mega Man laughed a little at the thought of the idea. "But I hear they're working on some sort of quick teleport system that will allow several jumps to be made and cut the trip down by several hours. It's under considerable debate though, because a lot of politicians think that something like that could be used to make invasions."

"You sure know a lot about that sort of thing." Jewel Man was a little impressed.

"Hey, I used to be a lab assistant. It's not all beyond me."

Mega Man smiled. He missed those days, even though they were far back by several years. He got to work with Dr. Light every day, and see Roll too. They used to always talk about the experiments. And Dr. Wily was still a good guy...technically. Elec Man powered the lab, Fire Man and Ice Man kept the lab comfortable in their seasons, and Cut Man had made a lovely garden maze just outside the lab. Guts Man and Bomb Man worked at a construction site away from the lab, but they would come back for maintenence and with stories of their own. If Proto Man had been around, those days would have been perfect.

Something black appeared in the sky, and something glimmering as well. Engaging his zoom feature, Mega Man was able to see that Bass and Crystal Bot, flying in on Treble Jet, were approaching. Jewel Man saw it too, smiling as they neared. Treble came in for a landing, and Crystal Bot immediately jumped from the purple wolf.

"Jewel Man _Obba_!" she happily shrieked as she ran up and embraced him. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas, sweetie." Jewel Man's expression of happiness at seeing his little girl-bot immediately soured as he turned his attention to the dark robot accompanying her. "Bass." he said, aknowledging the Wily-bot with only a hint of civility. "You didn't get her into any trouble, did you?"

"I got her back here in one piece, so shut it, Top Man."

"Hey, you two knock it off 'cause it's Christmas!" Crystal Bot scolded in that silly manner of hers. "Both of you be good!"

Bass rolled his eyes as he too stepped off of Treble, feeling much more apprehensive than his technician did about visiting the Lights. Rock, knowing how nervous he must feel, immediately went up to greet the darker fighter-bot.

"Merry Christmas, Bass!"

Bass nodded somewhat politely. "Uh, yeah, you too. How's Dr. Light?"

Mega Man's expression dimmed somewhat, but he remained cheerful. "Well, he's been better, but he's holding up just fine. Come on, he's waiting for us in the living room. Let's go! Oh hi, Treble!"

Rock reached over to pet the dog, which had wandered suspiciously over to the Light-bot and was sniffing him curiously. As Mega Man went to pet him, Treble snapped at his hand, and the bomber was only barely able to get away with his fingers intact. Treble growled, warning him to keep his hands to himself.

"Can't you keep that thing under control for one day?" Jewel Man complained.

Grinning viciously at the bejeweled Light-bot, Bass only turned to his pet and said. "Good boy."

They went to the living room, Crystal Bot chatting endlessly away about everything that she was doing at the Cossack's, all while clinging to Jewel Man's arm. "And then there was this guy Fredrik, and he really liked Kalinka, and Kalinka liked him too! But Dr. Cossack thought he was horrible and annoying, and that he was getting in the way of Kalinka's studies. He was right too, because I would try to teach Kalinka about robots and stuff, but then Fredrik would come in, and she would just go away and talk to him for a long time. But then Dr. Cossack told me that I could poke him in the face with a stick if he tried to kiss Kalinka! It was so much fun! Fredrik wasn't a good sport though."

"Uh...most humans I know don't like getting jabbed in the face..." Jewel Man added, a little weirded out by the story.

"Kalinka thought it was kinda funny...at first. But then Fredrik back talked her dad, and she got so mad at him. Hehe, Skull Man threw him out of the house! It was so funny! But then Kalinka cried for two weeks straight, and that wasn't so funny." Crystal Bot mused over this in her head, innocently wondering why Kalinka was so attached. "I'm so glad I'm a robot. It's nice not to have to worry about all that love stuff. It sounds complicated."

"Skull Man 'threw' him out of the house?" Mega Man echoed. "You don't mean that literally, right?"

"Of course I do!" Crystal Bot giggled relentlessly. "He landed in this huge pile of snow, and Pharoah Man's mechaniloids had to get him out and make him go away."

Mega Man smiled, despite himself. It was sort of humorous.

"Hm, get anything scientific done while you were over there?" Jewel Man asked with concern.

"Yes, _Obbuneem_. I upgraded Forte-kun a whole bunch and so now he's extra super cool! And I found a bunch more pipies the other day, so now Bruce is going to have a new flock of siblings, once I get them reprogrammed. I found twenty-four more of them, and with Bruce that's twenty-five. I love pipies! They're so cute!"

Mega Man cringed. He had always disliked pipies, and the original model that Crystal prefered was the most troublesome kind. "You don't need that many...right?"

"Hee hee..." Crystal Bot liked that Rock was so nervous, and she grinned innocently. "I sure do! I need to scare away dweebs. And dragons! Dragons like shiny things so someone like me can't be too safe. They're way scared of pipies."

Bass groaned. "Dragons aren't real, Sonata."

"Yeah they are too! They're dinosaurs, and back in the middle ages they all got killed off by knights and stuff. Or so they want you to _think_. I bet there's a whole bunch out there waiting to get their claws on me so they can throw me in their hoards. Oh, and Jewel Man _Obba_, you can have some pipies too, if you want."

"Er, no thank you." Jewel Man was starting to wonder where she was getting all of these ideas.

"I guess believing in dragons is better than that time you believed in _Santa Claus._" Bass added with spiteful glee.

Crystal Bot was mortified, and she gasped in horror. "AAAH! You weren't supposed to tell anyone about that! You jerk!"

Jewel Man couldn't help but laugh. "She did?"

"Oh yes." Bass answered, not caring that his mechanic was glaring at him. "She thought that he was a robot that teleported to everyone's houses to give them presents, and that he gave the milk and cookies to poor children."

"I only believed it because that's what _you _told me." Crystal grumpily folded her arms. "Friends are supposed to be _honest_, Forte. And the teleportation makes so much more sense than the whole flying reindeer thing."

"Aw, that's actually really cute." Mega Man added, though this didn't seem to comfort Crystal Bot any. "But about dragons, some people do say that they did exist in the middle ages. And I did fight a mechanical dragon Wily built a long time ago."

"Ooh, was it really cool?" Despite herself, Crystal Bot liked the idea.

"Well...not really. If I hadn't been in such a precarious area when I fought it, it would have been really easy to destroy."

"Oh, that's too bad..." Crystal Bot replied with distraction as she mused over the concept.

"No." Bass immediately spoke up. "I know what you're thinking, and _no_. No building any dragons."

"But I _wanna_...you're not the boss of me!"

"Too bad, and yes I am. Now shut up about it."

Rock just shook his head. Going ahead of the rest of them, Mega Man went and opened the door to the living room, announcing the arrival of the guests.

"Bass! Merry Christmas!" Dr. Light called out happily. "Come over here and talk to me."

Bass almost looked cheerful as he went to go see the aged scientist. As he sat down on the couch next to the doctor, Crystal Bot got nervous. Though it hadn't been long since she had seen Dr. Light last, he looked even older than he had a few months ago. His wrinkles had spread out and deepened, and his eyes seemed paler. Crystal Bot cringed, trying her hardest not to glitch. She hated seeing him in that state.

"Crystal, are you okay?" Mega Man asked, noticing that she was fidgeting.

"Um, yeah...I'm okay. Oh hey, there's Roll-chan!" Crystal Bot quickly ran over to her friend before Mega Man could ask anything else.

"Sona-chan! I'm so glad to see you!" Roll, who had just given Dr. Light a steaming hot cocoa, went up to her friend. Instead of wearing one of her normal dresses, Roll was costumed in a long-sleeved, red dress with white trim, and the classic Santa hat to match.

Crystal Bot temporarily forgot her anxiety and squealed. "You look so cute! I wanna dress up too!"

Roll tittered. "I thought you might. Here, I got you some elf ears and a hat. It has a little bell on the top."

Crystal took the items from her friend, removing her helmet and to put them on. "Hehe, it's so cute!" Crystal Bot giggled. "Do you like it, Bruce?"

The pipi tweeted, and Crystal giggled again, childishly clapping her hands.

"Now you get to help me pass out the presents!" Roll added.

"Hehe, Santa-Roll and her elf helper. _Kawaii_!"

Bass facepalmed. "So tell me, Light, is there some sort of law or something that says all girl-bots have to be completely insane?"

"Don't tell anyone I said this," Dr. Light laughed as he made his confession. "But I think there must be some sort of law that requires all _human _women to be insane."

"Now that everyone is here, it's time for presents!" Roll announced cheerfully. "Elf helper, bring me something out from under the tree, please."

Crystal Bot obeyed, and Roll read the tag. "Okay...this one's for Bass, from Dr. Light."

Bass actually looked happy as he unwrapped the small box, and when he opened it, there was a chip inside.

"What is it?"

"That is advanced battle AI." Dr. Light answered. "Now that you're on the side of good, I thought it would be better if you had a little more logical comprehension. That particular piece specializes in adapting according to your opponent's strategy. But go on."

Bass looked in the box to find that it wasn't empty yet. There were two books inside: The Archipelago and Out of the Silent Planet.

"I've noticed that you've been reading a lot lately. I wasn't sure what you liked, so I went ahead and got you two classics."

"Eh, I don't really know what I like either. Thanks." Bass said with complete sincerity, immediately starting to read The Archipelago.

"Ah, poo, I should've got him a book!" Crystal Bot complained. "How come I didn't think of that?"

"Don't worry about it." Bass said distractedly as he kept reading his philosophy book. "You're always making me upgrades and whatever. Besides, I didn't get you anything."

"Yeah, but I still feel bad." the "elf" suddenly perked up. "Ooh, hey Roll, give this one to Rock."

Bass put down his book as Roll picked up the large, elaborately wrapped package and handed it to her brother. Mega Man's eyes widened with delight as he saw the large plaid box, decorated with glittery red and green ribbon.

"Why Crystal, that's very beautiful!" Dr. Light complimented her. "How sweet of you!"

"Hehe. Yup, I wrapped it, but Forte-kun picked it out."

Immediately the box was flung across the room. Crystal Bot giggled with glee, Dr. Light had to hide his own amusement, and even Jewel Man chuckled. Bass, however, doubled over with laughter. "Ah, that was a great reaction! But don't worry, it's not a bomb."

"You...you promise?"

"Yeah, yeah. Dr. Light's in the room. I'm not gonna blow _him _up."

Crystal Bot, a little too eagerly, returned the gift to Mega Man, who reluctantly untied the ribbon and very slowly opened the box, making sure to hold the opening away from himself as he did so. As soon as he was certain that nothing was going to pop out of it, Mega Man looked inside with apprehension, and his brow furrowed.

"It's...Guts Man..." The blue bomber pulled a hunk of red machinery out of the large box. "Or rather...his severed...butt. Um...wow..."

Crystal Bot could barely contain herself as Bass responded with amusement. "Aren't you glad that's one less robot master you have to deal with?"

"Um...yeah...thanks...a lot, Bass."

Crystal Bot, still giggling without sign of stopping, said, "Rock, your present from me is at the bottom of the box."

Mega Man put the rather large posterior of Guts Man aside, and pulled out what looked like a zip drive. It was blue, and it had two buttons: a light blue and a light pink one.

"Oh? What's this?"

"It's something dandy I made up a bit ago. Dr. Cain likes to try to take over robots, and this is designed to prevent that. Pushing the blue button records your status: AI, memories, subsidiary programs, and such. Pushing the pink button when someone's been messing with your programming not only restores you to your original status, but also records whatever changes were made to your program so you can look at them later if you want."

"Wow, that's really cool! Thanks, Crystal!"

"Sona-chan, this one's for you!"

Roll handed her a small item, wrapped in gold foil. Being very interested in the foil itself, the tech-bot carefully pulled it off and placed it to the side. Looking at the gift, she noticed that it was a fairly old leather brown journal. Inside, the lineless pages were filled with notes and pictures of various scientific concepts.

"That's from me." Dr. Light spoke up. "It's my old notes from college. It should help you grasp some of the more abstract concepts of science."

"For me?" Crystal Bot stared at the book with astonishment, then clutched it tightly.

"Yes."

"And...and I get to keep it? Never have to give it back?"

Dr. Light laughed. "Keep it and enjoy."

"Thank you...wow, that's so cool. It makes my present seem lame." Crystal Bot nervously handed him a thin box, a little scared to be so near the aged doctor.

"Hm?" Dr. Light took the box and opened it. "My bills?"

"Yeah, being a robotics engineer can get pretty costly. And since you're not working at the same pace you used to...well, you couldn't hide some old debts from Jewel Man. I paid them all off so that you wouldn't have to worry about them anymore."

"Why, thank you, Crystal Bot! And Jewel Man, you're still a double agent, I see." Dr. Light eyed his shiny creation jokingly.

"Yeah, I definitely can't be trusted." the shimmering robot winked.

There were many more presents, and afterwards Dr. Light insisted on pictures of all of them, somehow managing to get Bass to join in. Due to Crystal and Bass' late arrival, it was already getting late into the day. Dr. Light and Roll departed for a special service at his church, leaving Dub to clean up the wrapping paper. Bass began reading his books, but the others just began talking.

"Eee, I love Christmas." Crystal Bot squealed. "It's so much fun. Thanks for the messenger bag, _Obba_. It's cute and useful."

"What was it like with Wily?" Mega Man asked. "Did you get any presents?"

"Well no, but I'd get to build a lot of stuff. That would be when Wily'd get all inspired, and we would build new things together. That's when he would come up with new ideas and concepts, like the Armoroids, for one. Sorry, Rock!" Crystal giggled.

Mega Man smiled but cringed a bit, thinking of when he had to fight Wily's armored vehicles as the villain had been recovering his robot masters. "Those things were difficult, but not too bad. With my super armor, I can handle them."

"Wily got 'inspired'?" Bass sarcastically questioned, interrupting himself from reading for just a moment. "You mean drunk, right?"

"Yeah, he wasn't too bad though. Just kinda...hyper." Crystal Bot's contorted her lips in an expression of annoyance, then laughed. "Well, I'm just glad I don't have a sense of smell."

"He must have been like that only when you were around." Bass commented dryly as he returned to his philosophy book. "Christmas was pretty much nonexistent before that. The old man would just get drunk and hole up in some room designing more of his stupid robot 'masters'. If I was _lucky _enough to have to do some chore I'd get a half-coherent rant on about people that double-crossed him at some point." Bass grimaced with disgust. "It was better just to disappear for two weeks than put up with it."

"According to Dr. Light, Wily always used to get drunk before designing robots. He's the one that believes it's inspiration." Mega Man added, not at first realizing that he shouldn't say that to someone who was designed by the treacherous scientist.

Bass grimaced. "I really hope that's not true about me..."

"It's not." Crystal Bot chirped. "Wily wanted to make sure you were extra stable and powerful, so he was sober while building you. I can't promise he was when he first thought about making you, but I think it's the actual construction that counts."

"But how would you know?" Mega Man asked. "You weren't around when he was being built."

"I still have the memories of my _dead _father, Rock." Crystal stuck out her tounge at him. "Thanks for being so sensitive!"

From the way Crystal cheerfully rebutted him, the blue bomber was able to guess that she wasn't really upset about it, or at least she was hiding it for the time being. But feeling a little guilty, he did apologize. Crystal replied that he couldn't help being such a dweeb, and that she was fine.

"Jewel Man, you're being really quiet." Mega Man noticed.

"Ah yes, I was just thinking about Christmas itself." Jewel Man paused before continuing. "Do you really think that there's a God or something like that?"

"I think so." Crystal Bot answered him. "I mean, science pretty much requires it. Humans are so silly! Back a long time ago they used to think maggots came from old meat and moths came from old clothes. They call that 'spontaneous generation'. But then they learned better and made a scientific law that says life only comes from life. It's only natural to think that whatever made humans had to be alive, and since humans are cool and stuff - though kinda gross - it looks like somebody really smart would have to make them. It's like robots, which are made by humans but aren't as good."

"A lot of people say that humans came from some amino acids that were hit by lightning on the early earth." Mega Man added, glad to have a scientific conversation. He didn't often have those these days. "And then the acids merged to become proteins."

"Oh pssht. There's another scientific law that says everything is in a state of decay. Metal rusts, wood rots or burns, biological creatures age, and all that. Proteins on their own don't merge, they fall apart." Crystal Bot shook her head. "Sheesh, what good are all these scientific laws if nobody listens to them?"

"Isn't it horrible though?" Jewel Man said, still caught up in his own personal musings. "We robots are built to comprehend the concept of God, but we don't have spirits, so we have no ability for the spiritual. And heaven is of course out of the question."

"I like to think that we can't go to hell." Mega Man optimistically mentioned.

At this, Bass put down his book and decided to join the conversation. "Are you kidding? Of course there's hell for machines: the robot museum. Think about it. You're dead and useless, trapped behind a glass barrier, and there's no one there besides tour guides and filty brats that can't be bothered to actually care about robotics. And you get maintained by some half-wit excuse for a technician that uses just enough cheap parts to get you to stand up straight, and scrub you to nothing to get rid the rust that slowly encrusts you over the centuries."

"That's a horrible thing to say."

"Don't deny that it's true. We've all seen it. But if a robot is lucky, they go to purgatory: the junkyard. You might get recycled there."

"That's depressing. I wish Wily hadn't deleted a lot of my dad's spiritual research." Crystal Bot said, sadly playing with the strap of her new messenger bag. "Maybe there's more to it that we're missing."

"Oh hey, it's 7:30!" Jewel Man perked up.

"Sonata, go get on the roof." Bass ordered.

"Uh, why?" the confused girl-bot asked, knowing that her habit of sitting on the roof annoyed Bass at times.

"Because I said so."

Shrugging and giggling, Crystal Bot climbed out of the window and went to the roof, despite the fact that there were stairs that went to the roof and she knew where they were. Climbing surprisingly deftly for a robot, Crystal settled comfortably on the tiles while Bruce followed along behind her, chirping as he flittered up and settled on the orb of her tiara. As she looked over in the distance, Crystal Bot realized that from her vantage point on top of the lab she could see a clear area near the edge of the highway. Engaging her zoom feature she gasped.

"Team 5! Yay!" She waved at them happily, and they waved back.

"Yeah, it's them." Bass, merged with Treble, had flown up to where Crystal was. "I need their help with your Christmas present. See those launchers they have? Well, those are going to shoot up some targets, and I'll shoot them. And when I do..."

"They explode real big and pretty?" Crystal Bot enthusiastically squealed.

"That's right."

"My FAVORITE! ...Aw, now I feel _really _bad for not getting you anything."

"I said don't worry about it. Besides, you're always upgrading me, and I never give you anything."

"You got me my gun."

"Yeah, and how long ago was that?"

Mega Man smiled. He never would have thought that Bass would do something simply for the sake of another. It was really nice of him, Rock thought. Jewel Man had to be wrong about him. Lost in his thoughts, it took Mega Man a moment to realize that Bass was addressing him.

"Hey Rock," Bass grinned deviously from the air above him. "Care for a nice _friendly _competition?"

The blue bomber couldn't help facepalming. Had this been the point of the dark robot's "present" all along? Mega Man wasn't eager to remind Bass of the old days and get him back into his more competitive ways.

"You mean see who can shoot more of the targets?"

"Yeah."

"Uh...sorry, I'm not really in the mood for something like that, but you go ahead." Mega Man wished that he could think of a better excuse.

"I accept the challenge!" Gyro Man, seemingly from nowhere, had flown up to Bass' position. "I'm not about to let people think I can't hold my own with the world's strongest robots!"

Bass snarled. "NO. I'm not challenging you, I'm challenging Rock!" Turning back to Mega Man, he continued. "Will you stop worrying? I'm not going to fight you, it's just a game."

"A game...right." Somehow Mega Man doubted that.

"No really!" Gyro Man insisted. "I know you think I'm no good, but give me this chance! I've become stronger than I've ever been-"

"Can it, sandwich boy!"

Mega Man sighed. This wasn't going to end well. But after a moment, as Gyro Man and Bass argued, Rush came up to the bomber and barked, pointing upwards with his nose. Rock could understand what his dog was trying to say: Crystal Bot would be sad if Bass didn't shoot the explosives, and he probably wasn't going to do it if Mega Man didn't accept the challenge. It was supposed to be her Christmas present, after all. Rush barked encouragingly, and Mega Man merged.

"Alright, I'm in." Mega Man said as he flew upwards. "But only if Gyro Man can join too."

"Whatever." Bass added, a little grumpily. "Wave Man! Get it started!"

The little metal cylinders shot upwards, only a few at a time at first. And just as promised, the targets exploded in beautiful, vivid color, reds and greens and golds mostly. From the roof of the lab, Crystal Bot's expression was one of pure bliss as she couldn't decide whether or not to watch the competition or the shinies. Even Jewel Man, who was watching from the ground below, couldn't help but enjoy himself. Several neighbors left their homes to watch as well.

Suddenly Mega Man stopped. He called a time out, then paused, listening to a transmission.

Rock apologized. "Sorry everyone, but there was a Christmas tree fire, and I've got to go! I hit 63! See you guys later!"

With that, he teleported away, leaving a really irritated Bass behind.

"Don't they have cops for that?" Bass snapped.

"I only got 41." Gyro Man complained. "Well I lose. How many did you get, Bass?"

Bass grimaced. Seeing that he didn't want to answer, Crystal Bot spoke up. "62! That's what Bruce says, anyway."

The dark robot was tired of it. It wasn't any fun if Rock wasn't there to beat. "How many of those are left?"

"Just fourteen!" Wave Man called out.

Bass teleported to the roof of the lab, de-merging from Treble. "Alright, Sonata, your turn. I want you to take out the rest of them."

Crystal Bot's expression dissolved into one of absolute horror.

"Don't do that!" Bass growled. "You've been training with Ring Man, and I expect you not to suck. If one of those things hits the ground before you shoot it, you lose."

"But...the Toad Man disease...my team is watching..."

"Right, and you'll be rejoining them if you chicken out. Take Treble and tell Gyro Man to get out of the way."

Treble barked at Crystal, and she nodded firmly. "I'll do my best!" Crystal pulled out her laser handgun, holding it upwards. "Alright...I can do this!"

"Hey Sonata."

"_Mwo_?"

Bass grinned. "Don't choke."

"Stop it!" she pouted.

Author's notes:

- And there we go! The first chapter of part 2 is up. I hope y'all enjoy it. Sorry that this chapter was so long, but I was having a lot of fun writing it, and there's a lot here that I wanted to put up as support for future chapters, and to just have a chapter where the characters are all relaxed and just having a good time.

- Oh, and here's a nifty little feature I'm adding: character profiles! Basically I'm going to add little data bits about each robot at the end of each chapter, putting in their Mega Man and Bass data disc information and saying how I interpret it. For those that don't have a MM+B disc, I'm making it up. Starting with -

===Crystal Bot/Sonata

**"**_**Kenchanna**_**! I can fix it!"**

Good point: technical genius

Bad point: steals technology

Likes: shinies and explosives

Dislikes: disrepair/death

Crystal Bot is a very intelligent robot with a very sweet personality, though there is lot of things she doesn't understand about social interactions. She is generally very childish and innocent. Though she is now technically a good guy, she doesn't see any problem with copying any programs or technology that she wants, rationalizing it by saying she wants to help Bass. Crystal is very manipulative, so she can not only steal someone's idea, but make them think that they decided to give it to her. She can create three types of crystals: crystal eyes, which appear in the form of orbs; long blue crystals, which are strong for building or fighting; and small pink energy crystals, which can be used to power things, glitch things, or even form instant death spikes, when big enough. Any of these crystals can be made larger, but that takes time to do.

- Lol, the reference to dragons is for someone on youtube who uses a dragon for his mascot and has done perfect runs on Mega Mans 1-10 and Mega Man and Bass. I'm not going to mention his name, as the guidelines here go against mentioning someone who is alive and non-historical, but if you search "Cut Man perfect run" on youtube, you'll find him. This guy was the inspiration for a lot of this story. Seriously, this dude has skill. And he also hates pipies. Lol. Watch his vids to find out more about that.

- For those of you that haven't read the first one, _mwo_ means "what", _Obba_ means dad, and _kenchanna_ can mean "it's alright" or "is it alright?" depending on the context and way it's said. Korean. Everyone should know what _kawaii_ means. _Obbuneem _means "father".

- Sorry if I got all theological on you guys there, but I just wanted to think about how a robot would think of God and such. It never really comes into play at any point, and seeing it from a robot's perspective is interesting. For the record, Dr. Light is Roman Catholic and Dr. Cossack is Eastern Orthodox. Since I don't know diddly about those denominations, you're probably not going to see anything more about them in the story. As you might have guessed, Dr. Wily is a casual atheist, but he does wonder about spiritual things occasionally. It's one of the reasons he built Crystal Man, to do more research so that he wouldn't have to. Not that Wily ever bothered to look at what Crystal Man discovered, but I digress.

- The Archipelago, if I'm spelling that right, was written by Alexandr Solzhenitzen, and I've never read it, but it's philosophy. I hear it's a hard read. Most people like his A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich better, and it is really good and not hard to read at all. It's about a falsely accused prisoner in Russian gulags after WWII. Out of the Silent Planet is a science fiction book by C.S. Lewis, and it's about a guy who gets kidnapped and forced to go to Mars (or Malacandra, as they say in the book). It's the first book in a trilogy including Perelandra and That Hideous Strength. The second book is pretty heady, philosophically, but the third is very insane and interesting. Reading is fundamental!


	3. Setting the Pieces

Proto Man hadn't been to Light laboratories since his creation, and he had no real desire to return. But there he was, standing outside of it on the edge of Monstropolis, on a brisk (for California) January morning. It was a large, white building (why were so many laboratories white?) with three stories, and it lay clustered between the woods and the rolling suburbia. Blues didn't know if Dr. Light was home, though he hoped not. This was as close as he had ever come to the home of his creator.

The red and grey robot was looking for Mega Man. After all that had happened, Proto Man felt like he needed to check on his brother. Or more specifically, Bass. Proto Man was unsettled about allowing the former rival to do as he pleased. It seemed like most people had taken Mega Man's optimistic words at face value. The at times naiive bomber often thought the best where he shouldn't and Proto Man had to correct his notions at more than one point in the past.

Though at the same time, Proto Man was almost certain that Bass wasn't trying to trick the heroic Light-bot again. The dark machine had only grown more impatient as time went on over the years, and it wasn't his way to prolong a false friendliness with Mega Man if he felt he could just fight him and be done with it. Proto Man had believed that he had Bass figured out, but lately he wasn't so certain. In any case, he wasn't going to let things just play out. Eventually he would find what Bass was up to.

But he stopped. Proto Man was there in front of the door, but he didn't knock or go inside. Staring at the building, he began to think that coming there was a mistake. He didn't want to see Dr. Light. Reconsidering his options, Proto Man backed away a step, then turned to walk away, considering what other places Rock might be at the time. Possibly he was out on patrol.

"Blues! Wait!"

Proto Man turned back to see Roll, who was standing in the now open door, looking very excited. Now, over the years and as Mega Man had faced trouble after trouble, he had seen his older brother occasionally. But Roll had never met him at all, and the look in her eyes was one of joy to see her oldest sibling.

"Wow, I can't believe you're here!" she exclaimed. "Please come inside."

Roll being at the house meant that Dr. Light had to be home, because the girl-bot was the one that took care of him and she rarely left his side for long. Proto Man had absolutely no desire to enter the lab, and he felt strange around Roll, just as he did the few occasions when he had seen Rock. But as always, the lone robot was nothing but business.

"Is Rock here?" Proto Man asked calmly, standing his ground with clear determination to remain outside of the lab.

Roll's face fell in disappointment, though obviously she was trying to understand, as she had always tried to avoid judging others. She clutched the door anxiously as she spoke. "No. He and Bass had some interview to go to today."

The lone robot nodded and began to initiate his teleportation.

"Wait, Proto Man, please." Roll began. "Dr. Light told me about you. He said you have a condition, and you need to be repaired. Please let him fix you. It wouldn't take long at all."

He looked at her for a moment, his shades hiding all emotion and his exposed mouth was sternly frozen. Roll knew that her request was out of the question. Sighing, she tried again.

"Look, I don't know why you won't come home, but please do something about your condition. There's got to be someone you can trust. Please take care of yourself."

Proto Man nodded as a way of saying that he understood her point. "Thanks."

"Blues...the doctor misses you."

Without another word, Proto Man teleported out.

He arrived downtown, to a side street that he knew well. There was the old TV and electronics store, and he often went there when he wanted to see something in the news. Fortunately, the TVs on display were on the correct channel, though he shouldn't have been so surprised. After all, who wouldn't display a news channel if it was showing an interview with Mega Man and two former Wily-bots? Proto Man noticed that it had already begun.

The interviewer, Meggy Noona spoke. "Bass, today officially marks three months since you've decided to leave Wily. Any regrets so far?"

"Yeah, not doing it sooner. And well, it's kind of annoying having to put up with a bunch of stupid laws. Apparently there's all these laws saying how powerful I'm allowed to be, and since I'm under 'probation' I can't always go where I want. And the three laws suck, by the way."

"The three laws are there for a reason." Mega Man shrugged, trying to sound phlegmatic about it.

"Yeah, yeah. My government ethics agent isn't so bad. He at least realizes how paranoid everyone is about robots rebelling."

The journalist grew more curious. "Government ethics agent?"

"That's Tim Reyes." Mega Man explained. "He's a great guy, and it's his job to ensure that the higher-level intelligent robots are compliant with international robotics laws. He's been my agent ever since I was first built."

"I don't know why you need the guy." Bass remarked. "You're a darn saint."

"Are all of you assigned to the same ethics agent?"

"Technically yes." Wave Man answered. "While Team 5 reports to Reyes, we have several more direct human and robotic contacts both on and operating with our space station."

Proto Man was slightly puzzled. Were these robots really planning to be ethical? Proto Man had known a lot of Wily-bots in the past, and they had all seemed very loyal to the demented scientist. Perhaps they were somehow smart enough to realize it was better to leave Wily, just as Blues had himself done many years ago. He had to congratulate them on that.

"One of the questions on everyone's mind even now, Bass," Ms. Noona continued. "is the question of whether or not you could defeat Mega Man. Some people think finally got tired of trying and gave up."

Bass scoffed. "Then 'some people' are idiots. You should've seen me in that last fight I had with Rock. I'm sure that somewhere there's a video of it. I totally could have taken him down if I didn't have to go save my technician. That's always been the issue with Rock: he so darn lucky. Every time we fight, it's always one thing or another. He could get called away to go take down some new robot, or I'd have to do something stupid for Wily, or Rock would just leave to get a cat out from a tree-"

"Or you'd get your buster stuck in elevator cables ..." Mega Man couldn't help grinning.

"Shut up!" Bass snarled, looking for a moment that he was going to slip back into his old habits. "The point is, we've never had a real fight, and I'm starting to think it's not even possible. This guy is ridiculously lucky. I don't know what it is, but nothing that bad ever happens to this guy without him getting out of it."

"And Mega Man, any response?"

The edge of Proto Man's mouth went up slightly. He knew how diplomatic his brother was, and that he was going to do his best to tell the truth (something completely different from what Bass had admitted), without offending the taller robot.

Mega Man smiled thoughtfully. "Well, I think I'm pretty lucky."

"See, there?" Bass said triumphantly. "He admits it!"

Proto Man rolled his eyes. Mega Man could have meant that he was lucky in any number of ways. He didn't necessarily have to be proving Bass' point. Proto Man knew from personal experience how tough his younger brother was, and he doubted that anyone was able to defeat the blue bomber.

"Now Mega Man, changing topics for a minute, we know that there are still four robot masters from Cain left. What are you doing in preparation for them?"

"Well, I don't want to give any important details away, but I've got Team 5 working on discovering their location. If I know anything about Dr. Cain, it's that he wants popularity. so whatever he does next will be very big, and so we've got to put a stop to it as quickly as possible." Rock looked very noble and very concerned for Monstropolis as he spoke. "But I have ways of keeping the city safe, and now with so much help, everything's wonderful! That and it's really nice not having to fight Bass all the time. He's pretty scary!"

If he hadn't been wearing his shades, it would have been obvious that Proto Man was rolling his eyes. He started to think that his brother was far too kind.

"Wave Man, compared to these two here, you're virtually unknown. Does that ever bother you?"

The amphibious-bot chortled, gurgling. "No, not at all. I have no desire for fame. It is much better to be able to be left alone than otherwise. And besides, everyone seems to prefer the fighters these days. My service since my defeat by Mega Man has mostly been that of architecture, and it remains fairly same to this day, though designing buildings in zero gravity has added an entirely new dimension to my work. Besides aiding in the endeavor against Cain, my team is vigilant about space exploration. Already we are on our way to building a satellite station on the moon."

"That's very impressive! Is your entire team interested in science?"

"Not all of them, but they each enjoy different aspects of their work. We are a very united team. Well, not completely united, but that would be Bass' fault." Wave Man look amusedly at Bass, not at all peturbed.

Bass shrugged. "Hey, Crystal Bot wanted to be my technician, so don't blame me."

"Is this the one you were talking about before?" Meggy asked. "The one you fought just before abandoning Dr. Wily?"

"Yeah. That fight sucked a lot since she had - she claims accidentally - made my busters so that they wouldn't hurt her. Just for the record, she can't make mobile death spikes anymore. Whatever made that work was damaged, and Wily's the only one that knows how to fix it. She's completely harmless, and I know her weakness anyway."

This intruiged Proto Man a bit. It was strange to him that the government would allow a Wily-bot to be maintained by another one, even if both of them claimed to be peaceful. He decided that he would pay her a visit, and since she was a technician he could easily think of an excuse to keep her from being suspicious.

"And where is she now?"

"Back with Dr. Cossack." Bass answered indifferently, apparently not that happy when he wasn't talking about himself. "She says she's camera shy or whatever."

And that told Proto Man what he wanted to know. He could always download the full interview later, if he thought it was necessary to watch. Looking one last time at the screen so that he could see his brother one last time, Proto Man teleported away, finding his secret means of heading for Russia.

-t-

With the interview over, Bass was about to depart once more for Russia. Rock, however, said he had one last thing to show the dark robot, which is why they were both in the basement of Light Laboratories. Mega Man was glad to finally share this secret with someone, as he had been told to not tell anyone about it, not even his closest friends. But just the night before, Dr. Light allowed Rock to let Bass see it.

As they went through the maze of underground servers, Mega Man looked behind him. Bass was there, cautiously looking around at the technology. Rock guessed that he was more apprehensive than excited about what he was going to see. The blue bomber went forward again, and he went over to a very boring concrete wall, the edge of the basement. Placing his hand on one of the stones, he sent out an electronic pulse. The wall immediately retracted to the left, revealing another wall with a large, circular gap cut in it. Black rings of metal that shimmered ringed the sides of the hole, which was large enough for a robot to stand in. Urging Bass onwards Rock stood in the center of the gap, then pressed a red button. Immediately teleporting, Rock's atoms split apart and he fizzled from sight.

Mega Man regained conciousness immediately after he arrived. Stepping outside of a similar ring, he looked at his surroundings, a place he had been a few times before. The place was an underground bunker, surprisingly warm and homey for being such an earthen and barren place. A large panel of complex computers was against the left wall, and against the right were several electronic books, all filled with important scientific information and histories. But the most important part of the bunker was in the center, inside of a large tube, and Mega Man went straight over to it.

Having figured out the odd teleporter, Bass soon appeared. Seeing where Rock was, he immediately approached, somewhat distrustful of his surroundings.

He looked. "So this is Mega Man X? Heh, not that impressive. He just looks like you, but more grown up."

"Yeah...I guess you could say that." Mega Man agreed as he opened the tube and activated X's wireless connection to the computer. "Though really with firepower he's not that much stronger than me. It's his mind that's the most advanced."

"So I've heard. What's so special about it anyway?"

Mega Man went over to the computer and pulled out a disc, typing on a keyboard as he got the disc to load. "Well, you see the basic problem with any robot is their ability to comprehend complex ideas. Like right and wrong, for example. Something that would be wrong in one circumstance would be right in another. But we robots don't get it, at least not completely. Our computer logic would have to be massive and time consuming to be able to figure out morality, and scientists still aren't convinced that it's possible even then. Which is why we have the three laws. They're to protect us as much as they are to protect humans."

Bass wasn't sure what to think about that. "So...that doesn't apply to me, right?"

Mega Man tried hard not to laugh. "Of course it does. It applies to all robots. If scientists had a better idea of how the human mind worked, we could be as logical as them, or at least more than we are now. Dr. Light, however, figured it out a little more than any other scientist has. Think about that in a fighter-bot sense. We're specifically programmed not to kill humans, but imagine if - in a very extreme situation - we were actually required to. We would immediately be stopped by our programming. But, if the laws were removed, then we could kill aimlessly, and our flawed logic would have us fighting people who don't deserve it. And even sometimes when they do deserve it, you can talk to them and stop them from being evil."

"Which is why you care too much about not hurting people." Bass rolled his eyes.

"And why you don't care enough." Mega Man answered. "See, it's either going to be one way or another, as we can't really figure out the best balance. Humans have more subtle intuition, and they can...uh...I'm not sure how it works, but they can sense things. I don't know how...it's almost extra-sensory. They just know things that we aren't even capable of understanding."

Bass stared at the calm, unmoving face of Mega Man X. "And this guy is supposed to get all that?"

"Well, not so much." Mega Man spoke uncertainly. "Dr. Light explained it to me, but I'm still not sure I understand it. Basically what he did was give Mega Man X a stronger mind but removed all of the rules that we have to live by. Instead of having him live by rules, he's going to live by morality. So for thirty years, he's going to go through extensive moral testing, so that he won't be forced to follow any rules, but he'll want to help, and live by what is kind and helpful."

The dark robot thought a moment. "What about Crystal Bot? Does she have to be tested?"

"I...don't know. I guess if Dr. Light thought it was necessary, he'd would say so." Mega Man also wondered about the girl-bot, and he paused a moment from his work on the computer. "Maybe because she's half-normal, the scientific principles are different somehow. But she's at least smarter than the average robot."

_And that means Zero must be..._ Bass thought grimly. Looking once more at the new generation of robot in the shatterproof canister, he felt a sense of doubt. "It doesn't seem like Dr. Light to replace you. Why doesn't he just update you into this guy?"

Apparently finished with whatever he was doing, Mega Man wandered back over to his youngest sibling. "Well, I think one of the reasons is that he doesn't want Monstropolis to go undefended for thirty years. That, and Dr. Light has to build what he wants in the first place to be able to upgrade any robot to it. It'd only make things more complicated if he had to figure out how to change what I am into something completely different."

"And it doesn't bother you that this guy is going to be better than you?"

"No, not at all." That sort of thing never bothered Mega Man. "I guess when he's done I'll just have to go back to what I was in the first place: a lab-bot. I miss those days. After every conflict with Wily I'd want to go back to it, but then Wily would show up again, or maybe the police would ask for my help, or someone's house would get on fire...eventually I just gave up on ever returning to my original directive. But now I can. Besides, when he finally emerges, no one besides me and Auto would be able to be his techician. I'll be fine."

Mega Man had to wonder what Bass was thinking. He might have given up on fighting him, but the blue bomber couldn't be sure that he wouldn't feel threatened by the vastly superior Mega Man X. Rock hoped that Bass would think better of it.

"So..." Bass slowly asked. "If someone figured out how Light did this, they could upgrade any robot like that?"

Rock almost sighed with relief. "I think so, but they'd still have to be tested for three decades. It would probably have an effect on your personality AI though."

Bass nodded, obviously thinking of undertaking the upgrades himself. He seemed willing to wait out the time, and three decades was nothing in a robot's life.

"Hey Bass, there were some things I was curious about." Mega Man mentioned cautiously, uncertain of whether or not he should ask. "When Dr. Wily captured the robot masters from the robot museum, why didn't you destroy them? That's what you did last time he tried to bring them all back."

Rock watched as Bass' expression crumbled into an angry grimace. "Ugh...why are you bringing this up? Shouldn't it be obvious? Where do you think I was when Team 9 was captured? It's like you said about free will - a robot can't be intelligent without it, so Wily let me do what I want, at first. But when I had the perfect opportunity to get rid of you, I was in some automated machine getting retarded new rules added. I couldn't fight Wily-bots without them attacking me first anymore, and that must have been when he installed the auto-destruct sequence."

"Uh...thanks for not killing me, by the way."

"You're lucky." was all Bass managed to reply.

Mega Man knew more than enough about how selfish Wily had always been, and he wasn't eager to hear more about it. He also didn't want Bass thinking about that part of his past, as he was already getting irritated.

_I probably shouldn't have asked him that..._ Mega Man thought before attempting to change the subject. "Oh hey, I forgot something. You'll want to see this."

Bass seemed less interested than before, and he hadn't been in the first place. But Mega Man knew that the next invention would cheer him up, just as it did for Rock every single day. Just knowing that it was there made Rock feel safe and glad, especially on the days when Dr. Light wasn't feeling well, and even more when he had stayed in the hospital.

Going past Mega Man X's room, Rock went through a small passage and entered a second, round but larger than the first. Massive servers filled with thousands of the specially engineered UltraStore discs. In the center of the room, a round, flat machine, about five feet in diameter, lay on the floor, connected by thick cords to the computers. Above this circle was another just like it, but suspended from the roof. The surface of both circles was rough, and tiny lights covered the sides that faced each other, though the lights weren't on at the time.

"What's this supposed to be?"

"Dr. Light's next body, sort of." Mega Man answered with happy pride. "He's spent the last few years not only working on Mega Man X, but also building this. Those computers are going to hold his mind, and this display in the center will show his holographic form. When he does...leave us, his mind will be brought here. And for thirty years, it will be him testing Mega Man X."

"That's...really smart..." Bass was stunned with amazement. "So you're saying he'll be able to basically live forever?"

"Sure! Well, if this machine works." Mega Man was somewhat competent about computers, but it always made him nervous to be in that room, as he was afraid he might break something. "But the doctor is happy about his chances, and he doesn't really have anything to lose by trying. The best part is, after the thirty years are over, he'll be back! It takes a lot of storage capacity to hold a human, but it'll really be him in there."

"Is it ready to go?"

It was a little bit of an awkward question, but it had to be asked. Surely Bass had to know how weak the doctor was becoming. Mega Man bowed his head with finality as he answered.

"Almost. There's just a few things that need to be done in here. Mostly though it's just anti-virus programs. This network isn't hooked up to any other, but we can't take any risks when Dr. Cain is a programmer. Most of these programs are preloaded onto the discs I have so you don't have to have much technical knowledge, but because of security, it takes at least two people to install the programs. Can you help?"

"Definitely."

\\\\\\\\\

Author's notes:

-Okay, this chapter was split into two parts, so yeah. I copied the notes that refer to anything in this section here, but no character profile. Sorry! One of my later chapters, for unrelated reasons, has two, so yeah, that makes up for it.

- "Meggy Noona" is based off of the name of a real columnist, and she wrote the book When Character was King. That's a good book. While it's actually a biography of Ronald Reagan, in one of the chapters it explains the truth about Communism in Hollywood. And speaking of basing things, I didn't say where the title of this fic came from. Like Okkusenman, it comes from a song. This particular song is Korean and you can find it at this link: www. youtube .com /watch?v=TWFa7Vr-t_o It's my favorite song from this one Kpop band I always listen to.


	4. Proto Man's Ways

It was not a lab. It was an old, somewhat dank house, an old victorian style home with various rooms done in various colors and types of wallpaper. The place was surprisingly tidy and pretty for a home with no women there, as it was maintained by a short teal robot named Demi. At the moment, the four foot machine was clambering up the cabinets and putting away the dishes he had just washed.

The thing had no nose, but a round face with a proportionally huge mouth full of thick teeth, designed to be constantly showing. He also had large yellow eyes, round as if the robot was perpetually excited, and several sharp spikes extended backwards from behind his head. The stumpy claws and feet were thick, but the upper arms and thighs of the robot were surprisingly thin, attached to a dumpling body.

"Demi, are you finished in there?"

"Coming, coming." The teal creature said, scrambling down to the floor. "You have the target, right?"

Another robot approached, this one taller and more stately. He was black and white, with yellow markings. Two holes were in his chest, one larger above a smaller one, and his arms were white tunnels with retractible hands. The strangest thing about this new robot was his head, which was shaped very much like ammunition. His nose was pointed, and his eyes were rectangular and placed in such a way that it made him look permanently angry, except when he smiled, but then he looked vicious rather than cheerful, though the latter was certainly his mood at this point.

"Everything is ready to go." Bullet Man responded to Demi with a grin as the smaller robot joined him on the way to the basement. "I love having first dibs. I won't leave much for Epic Man to deal with."

"Don't brag about that, we all have our parts to play." Demi remarked in his raspy voice.

"Heh, I know how it is. All share in all." Bullet Man said with amusement. "But hey, I get to start on Mega Man first, and I'm going to enjoy that. Nothing wrong with it."

Demi laughed, his voice sounding like rusty sheet metal. "Some of us have to remain behind and do boring things."

"Don't talk like that." The taller bot scoffed. "You're the one who got to spread those viruses. That's not bad at all."

"Thankee quite kindly. It's good that my efforts are appreciated."

The two went down the stairs, going from what appeared to be a normal and comfortable house into the real meaning of the place: a vast laboratory that expanded not only that lot, but also took up the underground areas under the two houses on either side. This was the lair of Dr. Nikolas Cain, the place where his latest plan was being feverishly developed. Despite the good attitude of his robots, the large man with a somewhat unkempt grey beard was in a state of aggravated concentration as he worked at several computers. Upon entering, the two robots politely stood over to the side.

"Well, what happened?" Dr. Cain demanded, barely sparing a glance from his virus programming. "You've got the target set up?"

Bullet Man nodded. "I've got the mechaniloids set in position around the oil drill sites in Alaska. Algorythm Man is there, waiting on me. He's already got the means to knock out the blue boy's transmissions, and I'll take the virus out to him whenever it's ready."

"And Epic Man, get out of there. We all know how stealthy you are." Cain snapped. "You're not fooling anyone."

Demi and Bullet Man almost jumped as Epic Man came out from behind a twenty foot monitor. Demi laughed rascally, amused at having been had, but Bullet Man frowned. He'd been trying to get the best of Epic Man's secret nature, but so far only Dr. Cain knew where Epic Man was at all times. Though to be fair, that was only due to a chip implanted in his brain.

"So I hear you're fighting little Mega Man first, Bullet." Epic Man remarked with an air of confidence. "Good luck to you. You'll need it."

"Thanks, Epic. I'll try to weaken him a bit for you first." Bullet Man half sarcastically, half genuinely answered. "But hey, you never know, I might actually take down this guy."

Epic Man smiled, though he had no confidence in Bullet Man's abilities against the blue bomber. Bullet Man was only about as powerful as a normal robot master, and his part of the plan was mostly to create a distraction so that Algorythm Man could put his part of the plan into work. However, the ammunition-bot was just as aware of this. Unlike Wily's creations, the Cain-bots had little to no ego power, and regarded most of everything with a sense of humor. Bullet Man didn't grudge his brother, and Epic Man's evaluation of him was based purely in rationality.

That was very ironic, considering how gruff and easily annoyed their creator was. "Shut up with all that chatter. Don't brag unless you've actually done something. Now Bullet Man, take this virus to Algorythm Man. Wait until Bass is gone from California before initiating the plan."

"Don't we have some way of dealing with him?" Bullet Man asked as he accepted a disc from his master.

"Yes." Cain answered. "Algorythm Man is assigned to incapacitate him just in case he gets involved, and Demi can infect him if he comes after me. Besides, he's got some classified nonsense to do in Russia. He'll actually be helping us out by taking out whatever leftovers Wily might have." At the thought of Wily, Nikola gritted his teeth, and his cheek twitched dangerously. "As bad as it is that I didn't finish off Wily, at least I'll be the one to finally take down Mega Man."

And of course that was where the non-egotistical nature of the robot masters came into play. Not one of them was bothered that Dr. Cain didn't include their efforts as a part of his genius scheme. And they never would, as their somewhat good-natured programming permanently restrained their minds.

"Don't worry about that fin-head." Epic Man chortled at his taller brother and leaned casually against a large computer console, filled with all manner of glowing lights that he didn't understand. "He's no better than anyone else that bothered to fight Mega Man, and in any case, I can handle him."

"Sure, he only destroyed three of my robots!" Dr. Cain smacked his hand against a console with rage. "Execute the plan, then execute him, just don't allow him to interfere. And don't even think about underestimating the blue bomber. Echelon Man was his perfect opponent, so let's not take any chances, alright?" Cain calmed down before continuing, inwardly reminding himself of his cholestoral. "Where is Sight Man? Is he in position?"

Epic Man nodded. "He just signalled. The mechaniloids you infected are dispersed throughout Monstropolis, and at any point in time I can have Sight Man activate the Cain virus. Once Mega Man is distracted in Alaska, we'll tear the city apart and leave it in ashes."

Nikola looked almost proud of his robot (or rather his own skill in building such a robot). "Good. See that you do."

Bullet Man was a cautiously optimistic sort of machine, but he was a little worried. The plan seemed good, but so did their old plans with Emit Man and Psycho Man. They didn't realize what they were up against and an unforeseen element had ruined everything. Well, that and Echelon Man had actually failed to kill Mega Man in their battle. Bullet Man couldn't help but wonder if some sort of unforeseen element would pop up in this new plan as well. But he quickly buried the thought. It didn't help to think like that. Dr. Cain was wise, and surely he had everything figured out. There couldn't be anything, or anyone unforeseen.

-t-

The trip had taken several hours, but finally Proto Man was finally at Dr. Cossack's. He knew the way, and he had been there several times before. Pharoah Man had come to expect the occasional visit from the mysterious bot, as Proto Man would occasionally see Dr. Cossack or Bright Man for minor repairs, though he generally refused to do anything that required him to be shut down. It was his way, and everyone at Cossack labs was long used to it.

Proto Man sort of liked Dr. Cossack's lab. It wasn't as professional looking as other labs might have been, but it had larger, more open rooms, each with large windows and oversized biological specimen displays. It was almost like wandering around inside of an old science fiction movie, especially with all of the various display tanks full of mysterious substances all bubbling over, and the clear cylindrical modules that held the fossilized remains of ancient animals.

As intruiging as all of these things were, they didn't distract Proto Man. He walked by, giving them a casual look as he headed down to the empty storage room that Pharoah Man had directed him to. He could hear the sounds of fighting, and it just had to be Ring Man and Skull Man, the two Cossack-bots that did the most fighting. He also knew the third inhabitant of the room.

Suddenly Ring Man's voice broke through the clatter of rings and skulls. "What are you doing? No! This is horrible!"

Proto Man turned the corner, opening the storage room's door to see a very annoyed Ring Man berating Crystal Bot, who was ashamedly staring at the floor and trying not to glitch. Skull Man's attitude was indeterminable, as he didn't have the ability to correspond facial movements to emotion. Proto Man wasn't entirely certain that the skull-bot even had emotions, but that didn't concern him at the time.

The other Cossack-bot noticed Proto Man's entrance. Still frustrated, he explained, "Blues, do you know what this pathetic repair-bot did? We were trying to help her learn how to defend herself, and as soon as we begin, she drops her gun before we even do anything. She drops it! How are we supposed to work with that?"

Crystal Bot shuddered with his lecture, grumpily going over to pick up her gun. She retreived it, pouting like a six year old as she muttered. "It's the Wily disease. It just doesn't go away 'cause you want it to..."

"We've been over this..." Ring Man groaned. "Wily disease is a battle AI glitch that causes the infected robot to react randomly or in one specific way when overwhelmed by fire or enemy proximity. All you have to do is change your reaction so that you're doing the right reaction, like a block, dodge, or counterattack. It's not rocket science here!"

"Yeah, I'd like it much better if it were." the girl-bot pouted.

Proto Man was familiar with Toad Man disease and its alternative label that kept Toad Man from being offended. He had heard this explanation for coping with the glitch before, and he knew for a fact that it had been moderately successful in the past.

"Hey, hey, Proto-kun!" Crystal Bot exclaimed as she approached him. "You need to be repaired, right? And right this minute, right? Can't wait any longer and can't settle for Bright Man, right?"

Ring Man facepalmed as Proto Man allowed himself a small smile. "Is Bass back yet?"

"Oh...you wanna talk to Forte." the tech-bot's lower lip extended. "No, he's not back, but he's on his way. Probably he'll be here soon."

"I was just wondering." The red and grey robot added. "I do need a repair, if you'd like to help."

"Yay!" Crystal Bot exclaimed merrily. "No more training! Science! Come on, Bruce, let's go!"

Ring Man facepalmed as the little pipi flew down and landed on his master's shoulder. "Crystal, you're going to have to learn how to fight eventually. Bass won't like it if you're always - "

"Can't talk now!" Crystal Bot grabbed Proto Man's arm and headed for the door. "Science!"

The two departed, Crystal Bot happily pulling the red and grey robot towards Bright Man's lab. "Thanks for rescuing me! Those guys are tough!"

"As I seem to recall, Mega Man thought both of them were easy to defeat." Proto Man mentioned.

"Hush, you!" Crystal Bot giggled a bit and playfully punched him in the shoulder. "I know I stink. I just wish I could get better and not have to deal with all that hard training stuff."

"Bass wants you trained?" the guy bot was curious. "So he wants you to fight someone then."

"No, not specifically. He just wants be to be able to defend myself just in case 'cause he thinks that maybe bad guys would go after me if they could. He's so nice and thoughtful! I just wish it wasn't so hard to get over my condition and fight good. You'll tell me if you find a cure, right?"

Proto Man wondered about her. There had to be more than just Toad Man disease going on if she truly thought someone like Bass was "nice" and "thoughtful", rather than the opposite. "Of course I will. But what do you mean by bad guys? You believe that Wily's robots will retaliate when he finds Zero?"

Crystal Bot's eyes widened with surprise and a faint streak of glee. "You found out? How?"

He decided he might as well give away his deepest, darkest secret: logic. "I learned about Zero some time ago. It's only natural Bass would go after him. I'd do it myself, but apparently he seems to have more information on how exactly to find him."

The girl-bot giggled and applauded him cheerfully. "You're so smart! Hee hee! But don't worry, Forte-kun's got everything under control. He's the best!"

"It's good for him to find a new opponent." Proto Man mentioned carefully. "It's high time he gave up on defeating Rock."

It was a fairly strange comment for Proto Man to make, but he did anyway, trying to see if Bass had any intention of capturing Zero simply to gain upgrades to defeat his rival. And it proved a good way to gauge Crystal Bot's reaction. She wasn't as skilled as Proto Man at hiding her emotions, and at the mention of her boss' old rivalry, her grin twisted for just a moment.

"Oh hey, you haven't told me what I need to fix in you." The girl-bot suddenly noticed. "What's the problem?"

"I have this...problem with my power core." Proto Man answered, giving her his cover story. "I'm fine most of the time, but no one knows how to fix it. I was hoping that you may have some idea of how to cure it."

"Ooooh, yay a challenge!" Crystal giddily clapped her hands. "I can definitely fix it!"

Proto Man smiled slightly. He doubted that anyone knew the cure for his problem, which he wasn't lying about. This, however, was just an excuse, and his plan was to keep Crystal Bot talking so that he could discover her motives, and see if he could learn anything useful. Over the years many people had wondered how Proto Man got his information, but what they didn't realize was that mostly his work was simply asking questions.

"So Crystal, how do you like being a good guy now?"

The girl-bot looked at him strangely, then snorted and giggled. "Who are you, an ethics agent? Hehee, I like it just fine. I don't get to make as many bombs now though, but they let me work for Forte-kun and now I get to make him really really strong! I'm sorta sad that I didn't get to nab you when I was with Wily though. You were always getting in the way and I wanted to catch you! Aw. But now that I'm not with him anymore, you'll tell me all your stealthy secrets, right?" she teased.

This didn't surprise the red and grey robot at all. "No, I don't think so."

"Aw, that means I'll have to just figure you out for myself." The shiny-bot cheerful poked him in the side. "It's more fun that way anyway! Hey Proto Man, how come you're so much cooler than Rock? Dr. Light made both of you guys, but you turned out way more neato than him."

Proto Man raised an eyebrow, unseen behind his shades. He didn't like her insulting his sibling, but he let it pass for the time being. "You know who made me?"

"Of course! Well, now I do. I was gonna ask Dr. Wily where you came from a long time ago, but Wave Man told me not to because it would upset him. But then I was at Dr. Light's house for Christmas, and he gave me his old college notebooks, and a sketch of you was in it! He wrote a bunch of stuff in there, but not just school stuff. It was almost like they were his journals, and he would write what happened to him every day. I don't think he would've given it to me if he remembered he put all that stuff in there. Did you know he used to be best friends with Wily? They would work on stuff together and they even built a really cool mechaniloid for their college project!"

The other robot nodded, his expression of calm indifference not changing, despite the fact that his actual mood darkened a bit. "Yes...I did know that."

"Hey Proto-kun?" Crystal Bot asked him curiously. "How come you weren't there at Christmas? Me and Forte-kun went there and we had a lot of fun! And Roll says she was sorry that you weren't there. Didn't you know you were invited? Nobody told you?"

"I don't do Christmas."

Crystal Bot reacted with shock. "But...why? You don't believe in God?"

"Belief...has nothing to do with it. Christmas is for families, that's all."

"They are your family, you dope!" she stuck her tongue out at him. "And me and Forte aren't even family and we got to come. Well, I don't know, I'm made of..." Crystal Bot looked over at Proto Man and immediately stopped. "Eh, never mind."

"I have some idea of what your origins are, Crystal." Proto Man spoke up. "You're made from Mega Man X parts. But, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to Crystal Man? Are you just an upgraded version of him?"

"Hee hee, oh no. Dr. Wily killed him."

"You don't sound very upset about it."

Crystal Bot's mirthful attitude disappeared just long enough for her to complete one sentence through gritted teeth and with dark rage. "I'm very upset about it." Immediately her blithe smile returned, and no trace of her anger remained as she again spoke. "There's just no point on dwelling on it and being sad when there's nothing I can do to save him."

Proto Man paused a moment, now somewhat confident that Crystal Bot had no intention of returning to her evil master (and now utterly disturbed by her personality). All that was left to do was figure out if and why she was so confident about turning away from evil itself. And it could be a problem that she was so angry at Wily, as she might get so focused on revenge that she might do something dangerous. Or perhaps her childish behavior was meant to disarm his suspicions, though somehow Proto Man doubted that.

"You have to come next year, okay? If you don't, you won't get any presents! And somebody might have a really good one for you!"

"Maybe." The guy-bot answered cooly and without commitment, though he smiled a little. Coming on the basis of gifts was such an immature sentiment.

Crystal Bot's lip twitched noticably, but other than that she remained cheery. "Well you should. It would get Rock to stop whining about you being gone, anyway."

Proto Man didn't respond to that thought. After moment's pause, he attempted to change the subject to one that made him nervous, but he remained curious about nonetheless. "And Dr. Light...did he work on you at all?"

"Oh yes!" Crystal Bot announced cheerfully. "I thought I was smart before, but since I'm made of more than half Light parts, he made me work so much better! My brain is so fast and efficient! But...he's sort of scary, you know? Just the way he looks." Crystal Bot looked downwards at her feet in sadness. "I wish he wasn't..." she murmured, just before lifting her head and turning back to the red and grey robot. "Look at you! You're making me talk about sad things today! Tee hee, I thought Dust Man was depressing with his crushing dead robots all the time, but you...okay, you're still not as depressing as Dust Man, but you're not as cute as him so don't be so down, got it?"

She playfully punched him again, and Proto Man smiled. Crystal Bot was amusing, if nothing else. But he still had to disguise a sense of dread. Dr. Light was scary? Why would a robot like her think so? A sense of confirmation rose up in Proto Man, and his suspicions were bolstered. That had to be why Crystal Bot had become so docile, having come from Wily's laboratories. She had to have been reprogrammed by Dr. Light. Inwardly, Proto Man shivered at the thought.

Proto Man's ability to analyze personalities had done its work. He wasn't worried (much) about Crystal Bot. He doubted that she was planning anything dangerous, and even if she was, he was certain that Mega Man could handle it. And if any such plan involved Bass, Proto Man knew his brother could defeat him, just as he had always done. Since he had received sufficient conclusions, he wondered if he was going to continue let Crystal think she could repair him. He thought that perhaps he should let her try. After all, even if she couldn't improve his condition, she couldn't make it any worse.

Interrupting his thoughts, Crystal Bot's giggling sounded as she was peering out of a window into the greenhouse where Dr. Cossack's botany experiments were kept safe from the winter cold. "Oh, look, look quick! Toad Man's out there, and if you watch you can see him do his little hula dance to make it rain. So cute!"

Proto Man had seen it before, but he politely approached the window to avoid insulting the tech-bot, who promptly burst out with another fit of laughter as Toad Man lifted his arms and shook his hips. And she continued laughing until they finally reached Bright Man's lab, a large, octagonal room with computers on every side, and five round tables in the center which held plant or bacteria samples under specialized lamps. It was one of the rooms with the most modern technology.

Bruce flew into the room, landing on Bright Man's bulb. At first he looked like he was going to say something stern to Crystal Bot about keeping her bird away from him, but as he saw Proto Man he calmed down and nodded a greeting. "Oh good, she's actually trying to do something useful today."

"Hey, you be quiet!" Crystal Bot . "See, this is why I already upgraded Drill Man and Ring Man and Skull Man, but not you. And you would be so smart if I did! But no, you're mean to me so you get to wait. You wouldn't get anything at all if Dr. Cossack weren't so nice."

She promptly stuck her nose into the air stubbornly, but Bright Man just rolled his eyes. "She's like this all the time." he explained, exasperated.

"Don't you talk about me like that! I'm a lady and you have to be nice to ladies."

"And ladies have to act like it." Bright Man retorted without hesitation.

"Scientist rivalry?" Proto Man asked as he sat down in the chair that Crystal Bot indicated.

"Nope, he's just a meany-butt." Crystal Bot answered with a haughty grin as she attached a cord to Proto Man's zip drive. "Bruce, get that monitor over there on! Okay, so, let's take a...look..." she stared at the monitor with wide eyes. "How in the world are you still alive? Power flunctuations like this...and your core is so unstable! You're basically a walking time bomb! Well, the lame kind that's not so big or pretty. The meltdown kind."

Proto Man had already known all of this. "Is there anything you can do about it?"

"I...er...um..."

"Ha!" Bright Man exclaimed. "Admit it! Face it, you can't fix him! None of us can, not even Dr. Cossack."

"Speak for yourself." Crystal Bot stubbornly huffed. "I just have to consult an expert, that's all. Sheesh. Alright Proto-kun, I'll be right back! Oh good, it's the right time over there!"

Without explaining herself, Crystal Bot turned and walked out of the door, presummably to some communications array. Proto Man eyed her with suspicion as she departed.

"What did she mean, it's the 'right time'?" Proto Man inquired of Cossack's lab-bot.

"Oh, she probably means whatever time zone Dr. Light is in." Bright Man answered distractedly as he observed some of the bacterial specimen and entered data into his handheld computer. "She consults him at times because he's one of the few people that she would admit is smarter than her."

That did it for Proto Man. He got up and pulled the cord out of his neck. He didn't doubt Bright Man, but he nonetheless went to go see what Crystal Bot was doing for himself. It was as he expected: Crystal Bot was speaking to a screen, and the screen displayed Dr. Light's aged face. Proto Man was careful to remain at an angle where he couldn't be seen by the good doctor.

"Those are the scans I got from him." Crystal Bot spoke respectfully and very shyly to the doctor. "Do you think there's anything that can be done?"

"Why yes, of course!" Dr. Light answered happily. "I already have some idea of what's wrong, and with these scans, I can work up a specific plan to set his core right and have it for you in two or three hours. Just don't tell him that it's from me."

Noticing the drop in Dr. Light's tone, Crystal Bot peered at him with a curious pity. "Why not?"

"It's just for the best." he answered softly. "I don't want him feeling obligated to me."

"Okay, if you say so."

That was enough. Proto Man retreated back into the lab, much more irritated than he appeared, and attempted to teleport out. However, something was wrong with the teleportation field, and all he was able to do was de-sync for a moment's time.

"Oh, you can't just leave like that." Crystal Bot, who had suddenly approached from behind, spoke. "I upgraded the lab's teleportation censors, and you need a new passcode to leave. I don't think Dr. Cossack would mind if I gave you a code, 'cause I hear you drop in from time to time."

Proto Man had no intention of returning, but there was no reason to tell Crystal Bot that. "Fine. Give me the passcode."

Crystal Bot folded her arms. "What am I, naiive like Roll? Not until you tell me why you're leaving. You're not freaking out just because I talked to Dr. Light, are you? Bruce saw you spying on me."

Proto Man frowned and walked out of the room. If he could find Pharoah Man, he wouldn't have to answer the tech-bot.

However, she was persistent, and she caught up and grabbed him by the arm. "You act weird every time I say something about him. You try to hide it, but you ask weird questions. He wants to help you, Proto Man! Why can't you accept that?"

The girl-bot stared at him with her confused red eyes, starting to get angry. She had been irritated at Bright Man earlier, but it was obvious that this anger was much deeper than any she may have had for her fellow technician. Proto Man felt no obligation and especially no desire to tell her any of his motives. He sent a radio transmission to Pharoah Man to request a passcode before making himself very clear to the stubborn shiny-bot.

"I live the way I wish, without requiring anything from anyone or being in anyone's debt." he answered simply. "And as for my relationship with Dr. Light, that's none of your business, so if you have any manners, stay out of it."

"Debt?" Crystal Bot's voice started to rise. "What are you talking about? He's your father and he loves you! What's wrong with letting him help?"

Proto Man's face was one of resolute steel as he turned away, wondering what was taking Pharoah Man so long with the code.

"You wanted to know where my dad is?" Crystal Bot screamed at him, making him pause and turn his head just enough to see her. The girl-bot pointed roughly at her arms and legs. "He's right here! My own father was murdered just for building me and then I was upgraded from his corpse! I'll never see him again and I never even met him in the first place! You're lucky that your dad is even still alive! How dare you reject him when he's not only your dad but super nice?"

Proto Man could see where this was going, and even before Crystal Bot finished he started walking away.

"You're a jerk and I hate you!" Crystal Bot spat out in anger one last time. "I'm not sorry you're gonna blow up, and when you do I hope you get put in the robot museum 'cause you're stupid and lame! Hear me? STUPID AND LAME!"

With that, the girl-bot ran away and slammed the door behind her. Proto Man shook his head as he looked back where she had run. That girl-bot was far too emotional for her own good, and it disappointed him. She was nothing more than a child, and her words had little effect on him. Nothing she said dissolved his determination to avoid his creator. Proto Man merely started to leave again, only to come face to face with a very irritated black and gold robot.

"What did you say to her?" Bass snarled, peering down at the Light-bot with vicious contempt. "Do you have any idea how annoying she is when she's upset?"

Silently exasperated, Proto Man's only response was, "I didn't do anything. She's just immature."

"Well I know that! That means you try to prevent her from whining." Bass grabbed Proto Man's hand and forced into it a chip. "Here's an exit passcode. Now get out and don't come back."

"Bass," A solemn voice sounded from a side hall as Pharoah Man emerged, obviously coming to investigate Proto Man's transmission rather than simply answer him. "You must remember that you are a guest in these labs, and you have no say over who comes or goes."

"He pissed off Crystal." Bass grouchily responded, not at all pleased at being rebuked by the Egypt-bot.

Pharoah Man looked at the taller robot. While Proto Man's expression outwardly didn't change, on the inside he soured. He knew how ridiculously chivilrous Cossack's prize robot was, despite his usual rationality, and it didn't surprise Proto Man to hear what Pharoah Man spoke next.

"Perhaps you should go." Pharoah Man responded, a slight edge to his voice. "We can discuss this later."

Proto Man nodded firmly and stuck the chip in his neck, teleporting out.

\\\\\\

====Proto Man

"Let me tell you something..."

Good point: Good whistler

Bad point: Keeping contact

Like: Solitary travel

Dislike: Interviews

Yeah, I didn't make this one up. It's Proto Man's data from the Mega Man and Bass game. Couldn't they think of anything better than "good whistler"? Ah well. There's actually not too much to say here, as I'm keeping as close to the game as I can for Proto Man. In my head he's someone who is interested in basically everything, but he prefers observing to interfering. The only member of his family he trusts somewhat is Mega Man, but that's mostly because he knows how naiive but noble his brother is. It's hard to distrust someone like that.

Proto Man is distrusted by the government because he answers to no one, but by most he's regarded as only minimally dangerous, as he does have a strict code of morality. He has some friends throughout the world, mostly technicians or people he has decided to help for whatever reason, but he's close to none of them. They are on friendly terms, but Proto Man avoids getting to know anyone on a close level.

Proto Man's work was hard, because we don't actually know what motivates him to stay hidden, and in this story I'm going to touch on the most logical reasons why he avoids his family.

-Whoo, Iong chapter. I just wanted to get some suporting details out of the way, particularly regarding Proto Man. It would help if I didn't write these at two in the morning. I just have to remember that this story was intended to be a more spur of the moment story than anything else. EDIT: Yay, now this chapter is in two pieces, making for a much easier read.


	5. On the Edge

Roll was moderately happy that morning. Dr. Light had been feeling well enough to leave his wheelchair for a couple of hours, and he was able to go outside and get some fresh air. Roll didn't like it when he spent the whole day inside the lab working, though thankfully the doctor exerted himself only minimally. But as soon as the girl-bot saw her brother, she frowned. She understood what he had to do, but that didn't mean she liked it.

Rock was standing next to the super teleporter, which was glowing a red color as it charged and pulsed. The cylinder was made from transparent aluminium, though its base was like that of the teleporter that led to Mega Man X's chamber, only in the floor instead of in the wall. But the red light changed into a green gleaming, and the door opened to reveal the emerging Gyro Man, Wave Man, and Gravity Man.

Mega Man welcomed them into the lab. "Thanks for coming down! I was worried about leaving the doctor alone while I was gone."

Wave Man nodded respectably. "It's an honor to protect Dr. Light."

"It's an honor to have him look at my work!" Gravity Man excitedly held up his laptop and several discs, his arms completely full of technology and data storage. "He said that he was going to help me come up with a model for the space city that I wanted to build! Eh...why is Roll looking at me like that?"

"She doesn't want you to overwork the doctor, that's all."

Mega Man wished his sister would relax her standards a little more. Dr. Light's work was what kept him going to live on another day, and even though he needed his rest, he needed to be building to aid humanity and robotics. The doctor felt that it was his purpose, and it was what woke him up in the morning. Though he supposed his sister had a point. Gravity Man was as passionate about science and research as the doctor himself, and while the robot could keep going, Dr. Light would have to work on a much slower pace.

"Alright, let's not crowd Dr. Light." Wave Man ordered his followers. "Gravity Man, you may of course remain in the lab with him. Gyro Man, you will substitute for Rock on his regular patrol, and I will monitor you as well as the lab itself."

"Sounds like you'll have everything under control." Mega Man happily said. "I feel a lot better about going to Alaska now that Monstropolis is in responsible hands."

"Hey, you've got nothing to worry about!" Gyro Man responded, confidently lifting a fist. "I can handle anything this city throws at me!"

"And it's very peaceful without Wily." Wave Man noted peacably. "I doubt there will be little to deal with other than the usual petty thieves. And while you are gone, Rock, please ask for Napalm Man to report from the drill site. Our communications with him have shut down, and I am uncertain of why. The last we heard from him was when he reported on the mysterious shortages of oil from the drill company's records. We only know he is alive because of our contact through the government agent Reyes."

"So just the oil is missing?" Mega Man asked while arranging for a special file in his computer brain to the clues of the case. "No one was hurt and nothing was broken?"

"Thus far, it only appears that someone broke into the Alaskan drill sites and removed a large stash of the oil. The quantity would imply that someone intends to fuel a significant robotic force."

Mega Man had already come to that conclusion when he first heard about the missing oil. "That basically guarantees that Cain is the one behind it. Hopefully he's left behind clues to where he's gone with it."

"Stay safe, Rock!" Roll spoke up, worried for her brother. "Don't let his robots hurt you. Here, take Crystal's present."

Roll handed the oddly shaped "zip drive" to Rock, who accepted it gratefully. Sticking it into his neck, he pressed the blue button. He could feel the data streaming into the zip drive, safely storing away his personality and knowledge so that nothing Dr. Cain could do to him would have any lasting affect. Mega Man could just plug it back in and everything would be restored. Gravity Man eyed the object with interest.

"Oh, that's like what Crystal Bot made for us." The physics defying bot spoke up. "Except that mine matches my armor."

It made Rock feel very optimistic when he heard that she had given the same thing to her team members, as it confirmed that she wasn't trying to trick him. "It's a very useful tool. I feel a lot safer knowing that there's a backup of my mind waiting here for me at the lab!" Mega Man gave the storage unit back to Roll once it was done loading.

"Please make certain that Napalm Man is well, Rock." Wave Man spoke up, the sound of his voice gurgling as several air bubbles wandered through his vocal manipulators. "The problem may be one with the drill site's communications, but we cannot be too careful."

"I never liked him going off with those guys, even if it is temporary." Gyro Man commented snidely as he folded his arms. "He belongs here with his team."

"Leave it alone, Gyro Man." Wave Man calmly rebuked his follower. "You know that he hasn't had a chance to make use of his bombs for some time, and the data he gains from working in Alaska will be very beneficial to our mining operations in space."

"You're right, like always." the propeller-bot shrugged.

Mega Man checked his buster just in case. "Alright, I'll check on Napalm Man. Good luck on keeping Monstropolis safe, Gyro Man!"

Gyro Man was tempted to reply that he didn't need luck because he had skill, but he thought better of it as he remembered the contest that they had on Christmas, and how he had come in last. "Well, thanks. I'll do what I can."

Before Rock teleported out, he checked his memory banks for the one last piece of advice Bass had given him about the Cain-bots.

**"The thing about those guys," Bass had instructed him. "Is that they suck. They each have their own nifty little gimmick, but once you figure that out there's nothing to them. They're boring to fight."**

It made sense to Mega Man, other than the boring part. Echelon Man, the one Cain-bot he himself had already destroyed, had his echelon heatshock attack, but once Mega Man knew what it was, it wasn't too hard to evade. Only Echelon Man's last ditch effort to hurt the blue bomber had given Rock any very difficult trouble, though fighting the Cain-bot had been a little tricky.

Noticing how worried Roll still looked, he smiled and gave her a thumbs up. Roll smiled back a little weakly.

"Good luck, Mega Man!"

-t-

The mining site in Alaska, for some reason called Garden Way, was in a sense of unrest. Human and robot security officers both were baffled, trying to figure out how the crime of the stolen oil had been committed. Protocols were being reviewed, and more guards than ever were posted at all checkpoints. They even double-checked the anti-teleport field that prevented unauthorized robotic travel. More than one glance went over to Napalm Man, despite the fact that security had already confirmed that the Wily-bot was innocent.

Mega Man went through all of the check points with complete patience. It was lucky for him that he was a good-natured robot, as many of the humans going through the security procedures were less than mannerly about it. But Rock just patiently sat down and allowed one of the state troopers plug in a cord to his zip drive, waiting for the virus scan to end. From where he was sitting, just outside the large barbed wire fence, he could see the rotating machines moving along, humming as if nothing had ever happened. Surprisingly, he could see a group of deer in the far distance (with his zooming ability) gathered around the length of pipeline that extended from the main drill area. Mega Man figured that the warmth of the operations must have made the pipeline an ideal place for the animals escaping the cold landscape. This was January in Alaska, after all.

"So what do we know so far, Officer Bates?"

A thin and hazel-haired man with a thick Canadian accent answered. "Not much. At the time when the oil disappeared, we only had robots guarding the area. We tried to investigate what had been done to them, but as soon as we plugged them into our computer, not only did the robots themselves immediately self-delete, but our own computers went down as well. All of these security computers you see now were brought in from the outside, because our intra-network is completely shot."

"That sounds like Cain." Mega Man folded his arms. "So is that why your communications were gone?"

"Yes, but we did get the radios up pretty fast. Oh, looks like you're done here." Ted Bates pulled the cord out of Mega Man's neck, and the blue bomber stood up. "You're clear to go in. Sorry about all these checks, but these days you can't be too careful."

"It's alright. I understand." Mega Man warmly responded. "Alright, so are there any witnesses or any cameras that might offer us a perspective?"

"Not really." Bates opened the gate, and he and Mega Man went into Garden Way, heading for the office. "But you will want to talk to Napalm Man. Not everyone here trusts him, but he claims to have seen the perpetrator. He'd be the only one, if that's the case."

Mega Man knew Napalm fairly well. The bomb-bot wasn't the smartest of his team, and he was somewhat overagressive, but he was fairly harmless. And besides that, not a very eloquent liar. If he wasn't telling the truth, it would be obvious. Moreover, Napalm Man knew this. He would probably run rather than lie, if he were truly guilty.

It turned out that they didn't have far to go to find the reformed Team 5 creation. Napalm Man, once he had heard that Mega Man was there, immediately set out to find the little hero. He was impatiently dodging the multifarious workers that were scrambling to maintain some sense of normalcy in the place.

"Hey Rock, over here!" the lumbering and easily excited fighter-bot called out. As Napalm Man neared them, he continued, rolling to a stop in front of them. "I saw the guy that did it. It was a robot. He used teleportation containers to get the oil out, but as soon as I got there, he saw me and ran."

"That means he had to have taken the oil somewhere in America, because you can't teleport from one country to another." Mega Man realized, thinking about what this could mean. "What did he look like?"

"Like this!" a voice called out from behind them. "I've been waiting for you, Mega Man!"

Mega Man groaned. He'd heard that sort of voice before, saying the exact thing he was saying right now. Turning around to face his new enemy, his first words were for the people surrounding him. "Everyone get out of here! It isn't safe!"

Officer Bates continued to get all humans out of sight, while Mega Man signalled Rush, who was waiting for him outside. Observing the enemy as he ran quickly to both get his dog and prevent the Cain-bot from attacking the site, he saw the tall robot's hands change into large gun barrels. Mega Man quickly equipped his super armor. Noticing movement behind him, Mega Man quickly glanced back to see Napalm Man following along.

"I want to fight this guy!" the purple robot exclaimed. "I couldn't fight him before at Garden Way because my napalm bombs would set the place on fire."

"You?" The sinister robot looked at him with a curious cheer and laughed. "You want to face your doom at the hands of me, Bullet Man? Well I certainly don't mind." The Cain-bot turned his attention to the robots who were guarding the oil site. "If anyone else wants to die today, I'm available to put you out of your misery! Come one, come all!"

"Please Rock," Napalm Man started to get antsy. "This guy has a lot of different weapons, like me. It's as if he was made to be my rival! And you can still have the absorbable power. I'm not designed to be able to use those anyway."

Mega Man considered it for a moment. If it made Napalm Man happy, he wouldn't mind letting the Team 5 bot have the first go, as long as he was sure the battle was far enough away from the drilling. Also, it made no sense for the robot to be attacking the drill site if he had already gotten what he came for - namely the oil. But if the oil was already stolen, Bullet Man had to be after something else. Killing him seemed to be the most obvious answer, but Mega Man rejected that thought. If he wanted to simply kill the blue bomber, Bullet Man would be a little less eager to let Napalm Man and the other robots get in the way. It ocurred to Mega Man that all of it might simply be a distraction. But for what?

"Alright, good luck!" Rock gave Napalm Man a thumbs up. "I'll stay and make sure you're okay, though. Wave Man wouldn't like it if I let you get destroyed."

"I won't! I can take this guy!" Mega suddenly realized how eager Napalm Man was to fight again. "Get ready, Bullet Man!"

"I was created ready, you periwinkle disaster."

Several heavy bullets, almost little missles, shot out of his arm cannons in quick repetition. Napalm Man managed to dodge most of them, but a couple did hit his armor and leave smoking dents behind.

"I'm more of a dark violet."

Napalm Man sent a volley of torpedos towards Bullet Man, scoring a couple of hits on the very agile robot, besides leaving some unsightly stains on his white armor.

"Well the point remains, purple is not a very intimidating color."

As Bullet Man spoke, he charged up a red laser, creating an energy orb in the top, larger hole of his chest. From this shot a laser beam at his opponent.

"Is white really any better?"

Two napalm bombs hit Bullet Man, causing his armor to catch fire and damaging his laser, which immediately cut off.

"Well, you have to admit that it makes a statement!"

Despite the fact that his chest was still on fire, Bullet Man charged his final weapon. Charging his arm cannons and also the second hole in his abdomen, he fired three rounds, different ones than before. These swirling missles went after Napalm Man, following him with precision. Napalm Man managed to duck behind a snowbank, and two of the missles hit the ground instead of him. Bullet Man had the time to take a moment and try to put out the fire still burning on himself and douse it with snow.

A little uncertain, Mega Man decided that Napalm Man could handle himself, at least for a few minutes. He had to have a look around. What exactly was Bullet Man trying to distract him from? Rush approached, and Mega Man merged with him quickly. Trying to take off, the burners fired and he began to lift into the air. But what he didn't notice was Bullet Man behind him. The Cain-bot jumped into the air, then his body shifted, turning him into one large projectile. An extra boost from his feet, which caught Mega Man's attention, sent him hurtling after the blue bomber at a ridiculous speed. The impact sent Mega Man flying through the air. He smacked into a tree before he was able to stop.

Standing over him, Bullet Man folded his arms. "And where are you going, hm? You should stick around and enjoy the fun."

Mega Man kicked the Cain-bot's legs out from under him, then fired his buster. Bullet Man fell back, and an irritated Napalm Man was able to catch up and continue the fight. But as Mega Man was going to start flying off, he suddenly felt strange. His arm was being held back, and something forcibly jammed into his neck's zip drive. Firing behind him, he turned to find that there was another robot, presummably another of Cain's. It was a robot he hadn't seen before, this one tall and built rock-solid, with thick arms and broad shoulders. He was predominantly orange, except for several small, square shaped panels on his limbs and chest. They glowed different neon colors, blinking on and off as they shifted their hue. One orange antenna stuck out at a bizarre angle from the side of his head.

This robot reached down, and Mega Man could see in his hand the glimmer of a chip. Thinking quickly, he reached back and ripped the strange robot's hand away, flinging the chip to the ground. Blasting quickly, he managed to knock back the opponent.

"Who are you?" Mega Man exclaimed, holding his buster out defensively. "And what was that chip?"

"Such a _polite_ fellow, this 'Mega' Man." The glowing robot muttered amusedly to himself. "Let me introduce myself properly then. My name is Algorhythm Man."

"And the chip?"

"The what now?" Algorhythm Man chortled a bit as he spoke in his brash, sarcastic tone. "Do forgive me, my memory isn't quite what it should be. Anyway, would you mind -"

Mega Man decided that whatever the chip was, it couldn't be good. Without waiting for his new enemy to finish, Mega Man promptly crushed the minature object under his foot. The cheery manner of the robot before him dampened a bit as he saw what the blue bomber had done.

"Now that was rude." Algorhythm Man frowned, gritting his teeth in annoyance. "How do you know that wasn't some sort of upgrade for you?"

"You're a Cain-bot! What would you want to help me for?"

"Ah, so there you are, coming to a conclusion that simply because I am built by Dr. Nikola Cain that I must be evil. How do you know that I haven't betrayed him, like that friend of yours over there has betrayed _his_ master? You're quite the judgemental fellow, Mega Man. I must say that I am highly disappointed in you."

Mega Man was incredulous. "So you didn't help Bullet Man steal the oil?"

"Oil? Whatever are you talking about? Oh, there goes my memory again. I simply have no clue what you mean by oil. I've never even heard of such a thing." The grinning robot said with complete confidence.

Getting frustrated, the blue bomber was about to comment on how it wasn't possible for a being made of metal to go without oil, but then he realized that this was as much of a diversion as Bullet Man. And as a strange, fuzzy sort of sensation started to creep up on his mind, Mega Man started to understand what exactly Algorythm Man was trying to distract him from: the robot was somehow using Rock's wireless adaptors to hack into his head. Algorythm Man noticed the look on Rock's face, and he knew what the bomber had figured out.

"That's the trouble with you, Mega-Twerp." Algorythm Man approached the blue bomber, evidently unafraid of being so close. "You're so easily confused and distracted."

"And the trouble...with you..." Mega Man answered through gritted teeth as he stubbornly resisted the effects of the hacking. "Is that you...talk too much!"

He wasn't able to charge his buster all of the way, but Mega Man was able to get it strong enough to hit Algorythm Man in the face and cut off the hacking. In his mind he could feel the relief immediately, and he more confidently recharged his buster.

"Gah!" Algorythm Man sputtered. "How did you do that? No one can resist me!"

"Apparently that's not true. Now surrender or I'll be forced to destroy you!"

The neon-bot froze for a moment, then grinned. "Never. Come and get me then."

Algorythm Man, oddity that he was, was actually a fairly decent fighter. Mega Man was surprised by how much of a challenge he turned out to be. Algorythm Man's weapon was a series of firey plasma bursts, almost like a colorful machine gun of tiny flames. Rock was glad he was merged with Rush, because this robot may not have been able to fly, but his jumping and hovering skills were impressive.

It wasn't long before Garden Way's own robots and humans had set up their security, and long laser cannons fired at Algorhythm Man. However, only the first few actually hit him. Within only a minute, Algorhythm Man had precisely calculated their firing pattern, and one by one started destroying the cannons.

Mega Man gasped. The explosions were hurting the cannons' operators, so he quickly started to fire at Algorhythm Man to get him to return to fighting him instead. However, while the plan worked to that extent, none of his shots connected. Algorhrythm Man had already calculated his strategy, and Rock took the impact of several neon hits. While he was stunned, Algorythm Man immediately charged and grabbed him. The Cain-bot began hacking again, this time with all out determination to bypass Mega Man's security measures and get him to succumb to his master's viruses.

"Rock, watch out!"

A white robot flew at a ridiculous speed towards Algorythm Man. Despite the fact that it missed, it did manage to get the Cain-bot to let go of Mega Man.

"Bullet Man! Are you alright?"

The ammunition-bot sat up, hissing. "I can't believe that such a mediocre machine got the upper hand on me! But not for long! Using me as a weapon? GAH!"

Bullet Man got to his feet with a furious persistence, doing his best to ignore his smoking and cracked body. Shooting another of his triple blasts, the three missles cruised their inevitable course towards the hapless Napalm Man, whose only course of action was to absorb all three of the impacts and painfully fall back. He shot his napalm bombs, but they both missed Bullet Man.

"Napalm!" Rock exclaimed as he de-merged from Rush and began to glow. Turning to Bullet Man, he let loose his powerful charge, and the already weakened Bullet Man exploded into shrapnel. Mega Man quickly searched through the rubble and absorbed his power, the power bullet, keeping his eyes peeled for the suddenly gone Algorhythm Man. But the second Cain-bot didn't reappear, and Mega Man felt that it was safe to check on the Team 5 bot behind him and de-activate his super armor.

Mega Man looked Napalm Man over, cringing to see the dents and twists in his armor as well as some exposed power core plating. However, the power core was still humming, and the broken bot's hands were still able to move.

"Hey Napalm Man...are you okay?"

"Ugh...this doesn't feel good, but I'll be fine. I'm a part of the new Team 5!" Napalm Man declined Rock's help as he lifted himself to his treaded feet. "We're all tough robots, and it'll take more than some idiot to take one of us down! I just wish I could have gotten him..."

"Um, sorry?"

Napalm Man laughed. "Don't worry about it, Rock. It's more important that he's gone than that any one of us get him. Besides, I didn't do too bad out here, didn't I?"

"Not at all. You sure saved my skin!" Mega Man's happy smile soured as he looked around the landscape. Besides Garden Way's security force, there was no one to be seen. It was obvious that Algorhythm Man had no desire to stick around. Mega Man wondered if Algorhythm Man had accomplished what he set out to do.

"Okay, I think what they were trying to do is hack into me, but that didn't work." Mega Man mentioned. "But Dr. Cain may have had something to do with why the robotic security didn't catch Bullet Man taking the oil. And also why it took so long for their security to get set up."

"Really?" Napalm Man's menacing voice deepened even further. "I'm really getting sick of this. I'll have Gravity Man see what he can do to fix their systems. If Cain got us...well, I don't know. Isn't he supposed to be this really smart hacker?"

"That's what everyone says." Mega Man nodded. "Are you alright? I want to get going after Algorhythm Man if I can trace him. I think I can detect his movement in the teleportation field."

"Go on. I might look like I got a hole blown through me, but I just need some new plating. Great...well, the national guard said that communications will be up 100% soon. I'll contact Gravity Man and see what he can do."

Mega Man waved Rush over as he spoke. "You're in luck. He's with Dr. Light at the lab now. I'm sure the both of them will get to the bottom of this."

And so Napalm Man went to go see what he could do for Garden Way, while Mega Man flew off on Rush jet. Suddenly glitching a bit, Rock trembled. Rush whined at him from under his feet.

"Don't worry, Rush, it's just from the fight. I'm alright. My super armor did a good job of protecting me. As soon as I defeat Algorythm Man, I'll get Dr. Light to check me, I promise!"

-t-

"Good job, Napalm Man." Dr. Light happily said over the comm telescreen as he sat in the main computer room of his lab. "This is exactly what I need to find out how exactly to counterract Dr. Cain's work on those security robots."

"I learned a thing or two from Gravity Man." Napalm Man's voice buzzed over the lab's soundspeaker. "So you can get rid of the virus?"

"Oh yes. This particular one is very simple. I'll contact you in an hour or so with the proper anti-virus program."

"Alright, talk to you then."

Dr. Light shut down the transmission as he put the virus onto the lab's safety computer, one that wasn't hooked up to the computer network. He turned on the monitor and started observing how the virus had affected the security-bots' minds. But as he looked, Dr. Light suddenly felt tired. He leaned up against the computer desk for a moment, rubbing his eyes.

"Doctor?" a concerned Gravity Man noticed him. "Are you alright? Do I need to get Roll?"

Dr. Light immediately straightened, leaning a little more on his cane. "Oh no, I'm fine, thank you."

Gravity Man put down the discs he was holding and approached the doctor. "Um, I think maybe you should rest for a minute."

"No, no, I assure you I'm alright." his resolve weakening for a moment, Dr. Light seemed to reconsider. "Well, I believe I'll at least sit down. Where is my wheelchair?"

"It's right over here, doctor." Gravity Man noticed it sitting alone near the window and went after it. "I've got it."

"Thank you, Gravity Man."

The maroon robot looked back with doubt at the doctor, who seemed more pale than usual, and even a little faint. As much as he wanted to work with the famous robotics engineer, he began to wonder if that was wise. But as he got the wheelchair, he decided to let Dr. Light have his fun for the time being so that he could get the anti-virus going. That wouldn't take to long, and then he could contact Roll to get her to make him take a break. She would be able to get him to stop being so stubborn.

\\\\\

Author's notes

- Dang, it's hard having to include Team 5 in this part of the story. I had plenty of spots for them in the last one, but now I have to use them just right to make sure they don't disappear, but don't overwhelm the lead characters. Yell at me if I'm crossing the line somewhere.

- Yeah, in this version of reality, they did drill in Alaska. To quell the environmentalists, they took more land and made it part of the preserve to make sure the animals had just as much of their own territory as they did before the drilling. However, the work, other than the noise, did make the drilled land a lot more appealing to certain species.

- Well, I've decided to go to two character profiles this time. Here we go!

==== Bullet Man

**"This enough fire power for you?"**

Good point: very determined

Bad point: doesn't know when to quit

Likes: war history

Dislikes: hippies

Yeppers, Bullet Man is the black knight of the Cain-bots. All of the Cain-bots would do stupid things for their master if ordered, but this guy is definitely the most likely one to be limbless and still trying to fight his enemy, and he wouldn't even have to be ordered to do so. While doing anything besides fighting, he's a reasonable fellow and quite enjoys long discussions, and yet his fighting style is very desperate and violent. He hates hippies, as they are both for the environment (he couldn't care less about polution) and they hate war to the point where they ignore how it has kept their freedoms secure (he likes education). Despite the fact that he would blow anything up without a second thought, he prefers to fight those who fight back, though he is under orders to not kill humans, for good reason.

==== Napalm Man

**"Feel the power of my weapon!"**

Good point: Loyalty

Bad point: Weapon nerd

Like: Negotiations

Dislike: Metal detector

==Japanese CD data:

Like: Weapons, arms in general

Dislike: Safety equipment

Lol. For my writings I don't guess I stayed all that close to the game data. I dunno, you be the judge. The Mega Man wiki also said that Napalm Man's allies are uncomfortable near him because he's so full of weapons. For my purposes, I made him a little childish, principally over-eager and not always conscious of others' concerns. Out of Team 5, he had the second hardest time leaving Wily (I'll leave you to guess who the first is), but because he is ultimately subject to Wave Man's authority and he knew that Wily would only reprogram him, he managed to go with the others to Dr. Light's lab.

Now that his failsafes are gone, he's free of Wily, but he feels uncomfortable going against his old master and would not likely do so unless directly ordered or forced to defend himself. He also has a fairly hard time accepting the fact that he just can't blow up whatever he wants anymore, hence his stint in drilling for oil and other mining projects. Over time, Wave Man expects that his loyalties will be completely to Team 5.

Team 5 is a bit wary of him, but because they were so persecuted by the other robot teams, Team 5 became very united, and they had to trust Napalm Man more. Of the robot masters, Napalm Man is closest to Charge Man, as they are both very excitable and enthusiastic. Surprisingly, Napalm Man gets along very well with Rock, despite being the most vocal about hating him. While at first he felt a little bitter, Napalm Man soon found that Rock was very friendly to him, and since Napalm Man doesn't have a lot of friends, he ended up thinking Mega Man very cool.


	6. Guilt

Proto Man was never one to leave matters alone, not when he could do something to be of use in the situation. He didn't completely trust Bass' motives for finding Zero, though it certainly was logical enough for Bass to want to fight his younger "brother". All the same, the red and grey robot thought that it might be better to find the missing Wily-bot before the older sibling did. And besides that, no one knew when Wily's latest, greatest invention would activate. Proto Man took no risks.

And so that was the reason why he was headed back to Monstropolis, specifically to Jenkins County Prison that lay on the outer part of the city, closer to the deserts to the south. Proto Man knew the place was a great deterrant to prison escapes, but the more dry landscape meant that there were fewer places to hide. He was going to have to be careful to not be seen, and even then he'd probably be caught by the security cameras. But as he couldn't exactly ask to speak to Wily, sneaking in would have to do. Proto Man had never gone through a government inspection, and was not trusted by authorities, and indeed most normal citizens.

From a long distance, Proto Man was casually sitting on a large rock, fairly invisible for a red machine. Engaging his zooming feature, he peered out over to where the barbed wire fence was. He could see a group of convicts exiting for their mid-day exercises. Despite the desert surroundings, it was still January and moderately cold, so the prisoners sported jackets, all in the regular prison orange. But despite the uniformity, the wild hairstyle of Dr. Albert Wily made him immediately apparent, unchanged by his time in jail. Proto Man had to wonder why Wily put so much effort into looking so crazy.

Wily, just as the investigating robot had expected, had his own miniature entourage of larger prisoners. Despite his lack of social skills, Wily's general insanity and experience as a villain made him instantly admirable to many of the worst criminals that populated Jenkins. Proto Man wondered if he could get them to leave. But surprisingly, a rare opportunity opened up. The three large men gathered around Wily departed after speaking to him for a short time, and left the evil mastermind relatively alone near the edge of the fence.

Proto Man was immediately suspicious. How likely was something like that going to happen? Proto Man immediately peered at his surroundings. He couldn't see anything around him but the prison and rocks. No robots in sight. This was somewhat odd, but it didn't deter Proto Man completely. So he went in closer, where he could see a fight in the prison yard break out, helpfully distracting the prison guards.

The robot paused. He had to make a decision. This situation was too convenient. The guards were distracted, and Wily was alone and able to speak to for a short time, but Proto Man didn't feel good about it. It was too opportune. He began to wonder if maybe he should simply try to get Rock to speak to Wily the legal way. But he knew that wasn't going to happen. Wily would be very careful not to give any hints to the bomber (besides hating him and possibly refusing to see him), and he knew that if Bass attempted to speak to him, only an argument would ensue.

Taking a risk for something to go wrong, Proto Man quickly went closer. He approached the fence, his calm demeanor carefully hiding his concern over everything. Wily noticed him right away, looking casually over his shoulder. Turning towards Proto Man as the guards were distracted by the violent convicts, Wily smiled a little deviously.

"Good afternoon, Proto Man. How are you?"

Blues was all business. "Fine. Mind telling me about Zero?"

Wily looked very surprised that Proto Man was asking about his supposedly secret project, but he just laughed and shrugged. "I should have known you would find out. You always do, somehow."

"Of course. But it's not like you to keep things like that to yourself. What exactly do you plan on doing with him?"

This amused Wily more than ever. While Proto Man assumed that Wily wasn't going to tell him directly, he knew that the mad scientist's bragging would definitely get the better of him. Blues had every confidence that Wily would let something drop. That is, until a noise attracted his attention, and he turned around. There, just a few feet away, was Flash Man, grinning devilishly as he pointed his buster - at Dr. Wily.

The plasma blast tore through the fence, hitting Flash Man's creator straight into the chest. For once Proto Man's solid expression broke, and he immediately went over to the imprisoned scientist to see what he could do, regretting that he didn't have more first aid training than he did. Not that it looked like any medical doctor could help. A bleeding wound kept the older scientist gasping and bleeding. Little bubbles were emerging from his chest, making Blues realize that one or both of the lungs had to have been punctured.

"Hey, that robot just attacked Wily!" a gruff, bald prisoner called out.

Proto Man immediately turned behind him to look for Flash Man, but the glowing robot had already disappeared. The realization came to him that while Flash Man had the flash stopper, his normal weapon was a standard buster, just like Proto Man's own gun. No one would be able to tell the difference between their plasma buster shots. The red and grey robot knew he had made a mistake by coming.

"I...I didn't do it..." Proto Man protested as the angry and shocked prisoners and guards started to surround him.

"Get away from him!" a guard barked as several others trained their guns on Proto Man. He then turned to Wily with an expression of shock, and swore. "This guy doesn't look good..."

Proto Man didn't wait to get captured. He immediately took off, dodging lasers and bullets as he fled his persuers.

_How could he do that?_ Blues' mind raced. Wily-bots didn't have the three laws, but they were specifically programmed not to hurt their creator. Someone like Wily would take even more precautions against that very thing than most people. _And how...how did that happen? It was too perfect a plan...there's no way Wily would be willing to kill himself just to frame me..._

But his circumstances said otherwise. As Proto Man fled from the scene, he had to conclude that Wily would soon die, and he would be the one to blame. As little as people in general liked Wily, they would believe that Proto Man was a murderer. Any trust he had earned over years of helping his brother maintain justice was completely gone. Proto Man cursed at himself for being so foolish.

Blues looked once more over his shoulder. The guards were still following, but it was getting more apparent that they weren't going to keep up. And they knew this. One of them pulled out a radio to signal backup, and whatever backup that was, Proto Man guessed that it had to be ready to come after robots. He ran faster. As soon as he had departed the non-teleportation zone, he was gone.

Gyro Man had a conflict of interest going on as he flew over downtown Monstropolis. On the one hand, it was a perfectly lovely evening, and even though it was cold, it was still beautiful with all the lights starting to come on in the approaching darkness. On the other hand, he was bored. It made him feel a little guilty to want to fight someone, as he was just beginning to realize how much those inner city fights cost Monstropolis for repair, disturbed traffic, interrupted business, etc. All the same, the propellor-bot couldn't help but wish for some serious threat to show up, even a Cain-bot.

_" - Anything yet, Gyro Man? - "_

_" - No, Wave Man, it's just as boring as it was when you contacted me twenty minutes ago. - "_

Gyro Man could imagine his leader laughing, despite the fact that none of it transmitted. _" - I thought it might prove so. Be thankful that it is. - "_

_" - Yeah, yeah, I know. Better boring than deadly. Any news from Rock? I hope he's having more fun than I am right now. - "_

_" - There is nothing from Mega Man himself, but I have gotten into contact with Napalm Man. He claims that the Cain robot Bullet Man was destroyed. - "_

A small amount of jealousy rose up in Gyro Man, but he didn't say anything about it. _" - So that leaves...? - "_

_" - Algorhythm Man, Sight Man, and Epic Man. Keep your eyes open. - "_

_" - Yeah, I will. - "_

Gyro Man said his last sentence with a little distraction. It was darker than it had been before, but all the same, he thought he saw a little something from the corner of his eye. Turning to look downwards, all he saw was trees. But there it flicked again, some movement as if by a shadow. Gyro Man scanned, but little showed up on his radar. However, he was used to those instruments, so the fact that only little, minute blips appeared scared him more than it would had he actually detected a robot. Gyro Man lowered his altitude some, but still remained cautiously in the air, gliding over the park where he had first seen the shadow.

It was only by fortunate coincidence that he managed a visual glimpse. His radar remained as barely useful as before, but once he sighted it, the confusing signals he got made perfect sense.

It was a robot. A dark one, and in fact it was completely black. It was shaped as a sort of insectish human, with long, twig-like limbs yet the basic humanoid shape. Its feet however, were wide and triangular. A long black cannon The head and face of this robot were very intruiguing. It looked like an ant face, except more diamond shaped and with no mandibles, and it had two short antenna behind its head. But the most defining feature of this robot was its ridiculous sharpness. Every bend in its armor was a sharp one, and there were almost no smooth curves in it. That made things very clear. The reason he was so hard to detect was that his angles were sharp, like a B-2 bomber plane.

But the reason why Gyro Man got such a good look at his face was that the robot had turned to look at him. Gyro Man was seen. Nothing to do but fight, the Team 5 robot figured. Quickly lowering, Gyro Man swooped in and shot out his new, smaller gyro blades. However, he vastly underestimated the speed of the robot. In moments the black robot had run up a tree, and as Gyro Man had lowered in for the attack, the other robot was already jumping onto Gyro Man, and he crashed into the four spinning blades on the back of the Team 5 robot.

The two crashed to the ground. Whoever this fellow was, his was a very quick fistfighter, and the fall to the ground didn't seem to bother him at all. Amidst dodging all of the punches, Gyro Man managed to throw him off and dent his face with two quick gyro shots.

"Please be a Cain-bot!" The green guy couldn't help exclaim.

"I am one," the black insect-bot replied, in his strange buzzing voice. "My name is Sight Man."

"Oh yes!" Gyro Man grinned with aggressive confidence. "I can't wait for the others to see me take you down! - _Wave Man, are you getting this? - "_

_" - I am. Good luck. - "_

"Don't think this will be as easy as all that." Sight Man spoke up as he ran forward to begin the battle again.

Gyro Man hovered in the air just as Sight Man reached him, but much to his surprise the Cain bot's bone-like fingers clutched at him, ignoring the gyro blades that cut downwards, and hurled the green robot several feet ahead. Gyro Man got up quickly, launching his large gyro blade, all while charging up his weapons (it was a new feature that Crystal Man had left him). His next smaller gyro blades glowed yellow, and they stung Sight Man as they hit and stuck in his skinny sides. Unfortuantely, Sight Man was able to run forwards at an amazing speed, kicking Gyro Man in the face and knocking him down.

Sight Man was correct. It wasn't going to be an easy fight.

-t-

Proto Man had to stop. He could feel his power core pulsing randomly, and if he didn't stop soon, it would only get worse. On one of the more hidden alleyways of Monstropolis, Proto Man decided to rest. Before he settled down, Proto Man crept over to one side of the alley, closer to the more populated side of the street. The deepening shadows would hide him, and he wanted to hear the news from the TVs that the electronics store displayed nearby. This was the same place he had been to hear news of Mega Man and Bass just a few days earlier, and hopefully it would tell him what he wanted to know.

For that moment, it was just going on about the weather. Proto Man took a moment to asess his internal mechanisms. His power core was starting to protest whenever he was too active, and Proto Man knew he had given it trouble when he was trying to lose his those that were after him. But almost immediately as he settled down, he started to feel better. The surges went down, and his power level stopped itself from dipping too far. He had worked himself too hard that day.

Popping open an E-tank, Proto Man promptly chugged it, going over the incident in his head. _"I should be fine...those security cameras would be able to see the entire thing. If no one else did, they had to have seen Flash Man. But then again..Dr. Wily must have planned this...how did he know I would go to see him? I only decided to go a short time ago, and told no one..."_

Blues was forced to conclude that Wily must have guessed that either he or someone else would have appeared. Thinking back on it, the robot guessed that the plan didn't require any specific robot, as long as the robot was someone other than Rock (who would have spoken with Wily by the prison's guidelines in any case). But he had to admit, it was extraordinarily "lucky" for the scientist that he had been the one to arrive. Proto Man gritted his teeth. He should have known better than to approach such a convenient situation. Maybe the villainous doctor had been expecting him.

_"Wily...he's an egotist. No one like him would kill themselves simply to make someone look bad. He must have used this as an opportunity to escape."_

The news started to talk about it, and Proto Man listened from his alleyway, leaning perfectly still on the wall.

"Today at Jenkins County Prison we have word of the surprising death of the convicted Dr. Albert Wily." the feminine newsanchor intoned. "He was struck down at eleven-thirty this morning by the renegade robot Proto Man, also known as Blues..."

Proto Man started. Taking a calculated risk, he went to look at the television. It showed a video clip, one where Proto Man was shown firing his buster at the hapless doctor.

_"It must have been edited!"_ a stunned Proto Man thought. _"But who could have done it...and why? Wily's got to be still alive..."_

The news went on unhampered. "Dr. Wily died later this afternoon from his plasma burn injuries. As the late doctor has no family, some conflict is going on about what to do with the body, but for now it is being held in Roland Jenkins Memorial Home."

That was where he would go first, Proto Man decided. As much as he needed a rest, it wouldn't do if Wily somehow faked the death and escaped. But a plasma shot to the chest with no armor on...that was liable to tear a human's innards apart. Proto Man didn't believe for a second that any human could have survived it. And the bleeding, Proto Man himself had seen it. Wily was old and had been that way for many years, leaving him worse off than most. Proto Man had to believe that he was dead.

_"But why...?"_ Proto Man questioned. _"Was he so tired of being in prison that he wanted his last act to be revenge?"_

It was a plausible story, especially if Wily didn't feel he had long to live. Proto Man couldn't remember how many times he had interfered with Wily's plans, and if it hadn't been for him, Mega Man's own adventures would have been cut short.

"Proto Man escaped the scene, but authorities are certain that he is still within Jenkins County. For the past few years many considered him somewhat trustworthy, including Mega Man, but it now appears that his hatred of Wily has gotten the best of him. However, considering his history for good, Mayor Blevins is willing to consider going easier on him if he turns himself in."

_"Not likely to happen. I hope no one is holding their breath."_

Proto Man went back into the alley, thankful that he was closer to obsolete than new. Most of the ways the modern realm of robotics traced robots was with new tracking numbers, and Proto Man was not only older, but also cut off from the rest of robotics science. He would be harder to find.

Sighing, the red and grey robot had to take a moment to rest his power core. If he could find some safe place to stay, he decided he would shut himself off for a few hours. hopefully that would make his energy system calm down. But for now the alley would be fine, until he felt he could make it over to the memorial home. For now he would try to decide how he was going to get in there without being detected and caught. It seemed impossible.

_"Rock would look."_ Proto Man considered with an ironic smile. _"I'm sure he wouldn't believe that I could ever kill anyone..."_

Proto Man only thought well of his brother, but he decided that he would go for himself. He didn't need Mega Man to come to _his _rescue. And besides, if he found evidence of a video editor, Blues could take up that offer that the Mayor had made and vindicate himself. For a moment, Proto Man closed his eyes.

But only for a moment. A noise immediately alerted him that something was going on in the nearby park. Proto Man knew the noise: the noise of a fight. He went over for a look. Gyro Man (who was at the time crashing through several bushes) he recognised, but the insectoid robot who had thrown the propeller-bot (and was now skillfully dodging several gyro blades) wasn't anyone he knew.

The loner robot armed his buster and checked his systems. His power core had calmed down for the time being, and the E-tank he'd had would likely keep him for a bit. As much pride as most Wily-bots had, Proto Man knew that Gyro Man would need his help. Where in the world was Rock?

Gyro Man was enjoying the fight so much, he didn't realize when he was starting to lose. But as Gyro Man had been flung back through the bushes, his adversary suddenly disappeared. Peering in and between all the trees around him, the green robot wondered where Sight Man had gone. Even the little blips he'd detected earlier were gone.

But of course that didn't mean that the Cain-bot had retreated. Sight Man, from his perch on a tree a hundred yards away, had pulled the cannon from his back and was now aiming it as a sniper at the unaware Gyro Man. He steaded the cannon, then made sure to get his enemy into the crosshairs. All he had to do now was pull the trigger. If he had a normal mouth, he would have smiled.

Before he knew it, Sight Man was falling to the ground, and a red and grey robot was above him. Without waiting for anything else to happen, Sight Man's bony legs swept around and knocked Proto Man's legs out from under him. Trying to run for it, Sight Man was stunned to find that this new arrival was quick too. Sight Man only got a few feet up the nearest tree before Proto Man jumped up and pulled him down, getting in several point blank hits with his buster while he was at it. The Cain-bot barely managed to throw him off.

"You..." Sight Man backed away unsteadily, pointing a dark, accusing finger at Blues. "You're that Proto Man, aren't you?"

Proto Man just smiled slightly, aiming his buster.

Scoffing, Sight Man turned and ran, heading for the lights of the city. Proto Man ran after him, and by that time he could hear the sounds of Gyro Man flying in the air above him. They would surely corner this threat together. The Cain-bot was hard to see, but Proto Man managed to keep up. However, just as they were getting out of the park and into regular streets again, Sight Man jumped several feet into the air, and with him out of the way, Proto Man was able to see that Sight Man had led him straight to where a cop car had parked.

As the car doors opened, Sight Man landed behind Proto Man and grasped him tightly in a headlock. Try as he might, Proto Man was unable to escape.

"I got him, officers!" Sight Man exclaimed with sinister glee. "I caught the murderer!"

-t-

_" - Epic Man, come in. - "_

The blue, spiked robot was only happy to answer his master's transmission. After all, he had spent the entire day hanging out around a volcano, and as much as he liked them, he was getting a bit jealous that his remaining kin were getting all the fights.

_" - Dr. Cain, what can I do for you? - "_

_" - Just tell me what's going on. I need to make sure I have everything ready for _his_ arrival - "_

_" - Algorhythm Man unfortunately wasn't able to get the full virus on Mega Man's system. - "_

Dr. Cain would've liked very much to complain about that, but in the end he decided it wasn't worth it. _" - Eh, whatever. I suppose it was too much to ask for any of you to do your jobs correctly. I don't need him under my control for this plan to work. But did he take down Mega Man's communications? - "_

_" - Oh yes, yes. I would have gone to do it myself if he had failed. Ha, he shall feel terrible once he finds out what will be going on in his absence. Oh, and I have more unfortunate news: Bullet Man is dead. - "_

_" - The miserable idiot. As long as this doesn't interfere with the plan, it doesn't matter. Now, Mega Man is headed for here, correct? - "_

_" - Surely you know I'm reliable? Of course he is. The little twerp is following our little trail as we speak. - "_

_" - And Monstropolis? - "_

_" - Sight Man has the substitute hero distracted, and Algorythm Man already has the device ready. Very soon it will be chaos for the good people of Monstropolis, California. - "_

_" - See that it is. - " _Dr. Cain was never one for being encouraging, as his low, growling tone indicated. _" - I want that place torn apart for good, do you hear me? And make sure that Wily fool is gone as well. - "_

_" - Ah, no need for that. Check the news and you'll see he's already dead. - "_

_" - Convenient. - "_

And without another word, Dr. Cain cut the transmission. Epic Man, with an air of amusement, noted that Dr. Cain was the rudest person he knew, not that he knew many humans. But he was absolutely loyal to his master, and leaned back with his arms behind his head against the rocks at the top of the active volcano's peak. A spurt of hot air flew up behind him, and Epic Man grinned as it whooshed up.

But all the same, he was completely bored. He wished he could be in Monstropolis with Algorythm and Sight Man, helping them and the numerous robots that they were about to kidnap level the place.

_Oh, well. I'll just have to be content killing Mega Man._

-t-

"Is the anti-virus ready, Dr. Light?" Gravity Man asked casually.

"It certainly is. A good job if I do say so myself." the doctor cheerily responded. "I'll go ahead and send it to Napalm Man now. Could you get me the blue disc from my office? I'm afraid I forgot to bring it earlier, and we'll need it to get ready for our next experiment."

Gravity Man went to obey, but as he did, he couldn't help but noticing that the doctor looked a bit faint. "Um, are you okay, doctor?"

"Oh yes, I'm fine." Dr. Light dismissed the maroon robot's concerns immediately as he pushed the appropriate buttons to send off the anti-virus. "Go on, now."

Gravity Man exited without question. Roll, however, who had remained in the room to keep an eye out for the doctor, was immediately doubtful. "Doctor, you've been going on for a few hours now. Isn't it time for a rest?"

"Well...perhaps you're right...perhaps...you know, I really should sit down..."

Dr. Light's hand went to his head, and he collapsed to his knees in pain. Gasping, Roll dashed to his side, trying to help him not fall to the floor as he fainted away.

"Hey guys, have you seen the news?" Gravity Man called out as he returned. "They're saying Proto Man -"

Seeing what had happened he immediately stopped. "What happened?"

"I don't know!" Roll cried out with fright. "Call the hospital!"

Gravity Man was instantly at the computer, sending out an emergency transmission to the hospital. Thinking quickly, he thought of someone else he should call. But as he pressed more and more buttons, he realized that something was wrong.

"I...I can't get through to Rock!"

/

Author's notes:

- Hey guys, do you think these chapters are too long? I mean, I know the one with 10,000 words was definitely too long, but still I want to keep this as readable as possible. Yell at me what you think.

- Did you know that there's a difference between prisons and jails? Jails are the places where people are kept until trial, and prisons are where the convicted people are kept afterwards. For the longest time I thought they were the same thing, but it turns out not.

====Sight Man

**"...I'm already here..."**

Good point: all-terrain

Bad point: easily distracted

Likes: silence and nighttime

Dislikes: large bands

That's right, Sight Man hates bands, especially high school ones. Number one, they're noisy, and number two, they play the kind of music that he hates (it's even worse if the band plays horribly). But in fact, Sight Man hates most forms of music, besides some trance and light strings music.

Anyway, Sight Man is designed for stealth and sniping. So basically he's a ninja with a gun. Not only does his anti-radar armor hide him, but his greater speed and dark color do too. And when it's convenient, he can change his color to white, green or brown, depending on what environment he's in and how he needs to hide, though he always prefers to be black. His feet are capable of flattening for walking in swamps or snow, or becoming claws for climbing. However, this comes at a cost, as he isn't as tough as many other robot masters. But his skills make him good at dodging.

Sight Man isn't as friendly as the other Cain-bots (who are surprisingly social), and he doesn't like talking that much. He will usually never be found where the others are.


	7. Meanwhile in Russia

Bass was bored. It would only be a minute until his next few upgrades were ready, but they would take some time to load. Ironically enough, they were programs to make his computer mind work faster. Even more annoying, they would take longer because Crystal Bot was trying to show Kalinka how to install similar upgrades onto Pharoah Man - but she always kept the best for Bass. Pharaoh Man, much more patient than his dark guest, was sitting calmly at an alternate computer as his programs were being uploaded.

However, Bass had prepared. Pulling out a book, he continued to read his C.S. Lewis book from where he had left off earlier. He had to wonder why he had never been much of a reader before. It was sort of relaxing...or at least less boring than listening to Crystal Bot instruct the young Cossack girl.

"Okay, Kalinka, now you initialize the program...and there you go!"

Kalinka sighed with relief. "This robotics stuff seems so much more complicated than I first thought."

Crystal Bot giggled as she went over to Bass and plugged a cord into his zip drive, pressing keys on a computer as she spoke. "That's 'cause you went straight from a dad with not so much robotics experience to learning techniques from the second greatest robotics guy ever." Mentioning Wily made her unhappy, so she quickly added, "And some from the first too! Dr. Light showed me all kinds of cool stuff. Okay, Dust Man, c'mere and let me see you."

Dust Man, who had just arrived in Dr. Cossack's main computer laboratory (Bright Man was very happy to have Crystal Bot out of his own lab), quietly walked in and laid his inoperable buster on the table. Making it work and work uniquely was going to be Crystal Bot's task for the day, once her boss had departed again on another search for the hidden Zero. Kalinka joined the technical robot as she started removing the plate armor from Dust Man's buster.

"Hey, why doesn't his buster work, Kalinka? Your dad's a way better robotics guy than to just leave it broken like that."

The blonde girl smiled. "Ah, that was to make it easier for Mega Man to beat the team. My father did that to most of the robots. For example, Ring Man had very bad battle AI at first, and Skull Man does not attack unless attacked."

"Oh, so is that why Toad Man is...er, was so lame?"

Kalinka cringed a moment. "Eh, no. That was some weird glitch from Wily's technology that he made my father use."

Bass didn't pay any more attention to the conversation. He hated talking or thinking about the past. And most of all he hated waiting, especially when his (second) greatest rival was out there somewhere. The sooner Zero was dead, the sooner Bass would be free.

"Hey Dust Man, I made up a human name for you yesterday. Wanna hear it?" Crystal Bot said as she watched Kalinka at her work."

_" - Sure. - "_

"So I was thinking about the name 'Dust Man' yesterday, and I realized if you rearrange some letters in your name you can get 'Dan' and that's a human name, so of course I had to make up a last name too. If I just added one more 'n', I could get 'Dunn' for a last name, and I checked, it's a real last name. Do you like it?"

Dust Man wished he had a mouth so that he could smile. But he laughed quietly and said with his quiet voice that he liked it very much.

"That's a good idea, Crystal. I want to make up one for you too." Kalinka said, thinking for a moment. "Hm, what should it be..? Sonata is a good first name for a human, and if you rearrange some of the letters in 'Crystal Bot'...eh...ah, Costa. Sonata Costa. That doesn't sound too odd, does it?"

"It sounds _cute_, I love it!" the shiny-bot giggled. "Make up one for Forte-kun now!"

Bass looked briefly from his book, nowhere near curious. "Leave me out of that."

"Oh, pssht, don't be a party pooper." Crystal Bot insisted. "Hey Kalinka, make one."

"So if you switch around the letters..." the Russian girl thought intently. "Ah, you can get 'Foster' from Forte...if you add an 's'. Uh...are there any good names that start with a 'b'? It would be good if his first name started with one."

"I like Ben. It's nice." the girl-bot added.

"Ben Foster?" Bass mused sourly, rolling his eyes and returning to his book. "That's not exactly intimidating."

"Uh...so you like 'Buzz' better?"

Bass scowled, wishing she would find a better way to occupy her three CPUs. "Ben is fine..."

"Let's make up one for Mega Man." Kalinka said as she finished removing Dust Man's buster plates and started to remove the buster arm entirely. "Technically you could say it's 'Rocky Light', but that sounds stupid."

"Ugh, yeah it does. What if - oh, be careful of the plasma coil - what if we went ahead and changed the language? 'Light' is Hikari in Japanese."

"Oh, and his first name should be 'Lan', because he's a computer and that's a computer term." Kalinka added eagerly.

"Lan Hikari?" Bass scoffed. "As if the guy wasn't enough of a geek."

"Hee hee, that's what makes it such a good name!" Crystal Bot confidently asserted. "And for Roll I pick Lara 'cause if they were humans they'd be twins. Not the identical ones, though. They would be Japanese twins, and Lan would be the really geeky guy that goes to cram school and Lara would be really popular and nice and maybe a dancer. Hey Forte-kun, if you were human, what would you do?"

"Wish that I was a robot. Don't ask retarded questions." Bass grimaced, regretting involving himself in the conversation. He hoped she would get the idea to leave him alone and just let him read and upgrade in peace.

"Aw, you're no fun. If I were human I'd do everything I can't now. I'd fall in love and get married and have kids and eat everything!" Crystal Bot giggled and brightened at the thought of it. "I'd eat all the pretty cakes and meatloaf and all those funky looking vegetables...eggplant looks so cool! And those cupcakes that look like puppies! Ha, I'd be so fat!"

"Um, Crystal," Kalinka said reluctantly, trying to hold back a smile. "It's not healthy to be fat."

"Oh, really? Okay then, so I'd have to be a fitness instructor and work out all the time. Heehee! Okay Mr. Daniel Dunn, me and Kalinka are gonna think of something cool for your buster, but you don't have to wait around for us to finish it if you don't want to."

Dust Man nodded a little awkwardly due to his bulk. _" - Thank you, Crystal Bot. Please let me know if there is any material I can bring you from my yard. - "_

It didn't matter to Dust Man that he would be going to work missing an arm. He'd been living his life with only one hand, and he could manage well enough. As the large, blue garbage disposal-bot departed, Kalinka started shuffling around, looking for something.

"Ah, I left my notes in my room...I think..." she complained. "Excuse me, Sona, I'll be right back. I had some ideas I wanted to discuss about Dust Man's buster, and I need to get what I wrote."

"You dork." Crystal Bot stuck out her tongue teasingly. "How can I make a scientist out of you if you're so forgetful?"

Kalinka rolled her eyes merrily before she left, and Crystal Bot checked the computer Bass was hooked into. "Okay, Forte-kun, you've got just five minutes. And Pharaoh Man...you've got eight. Oh hey, I'm making you a name next. What do you think about Phillip?"

"I would think perhaps you should consider less European names and try for something a bit more foreign." Pharaoh Man responded with an air of amusement. It always annoyed Bass how endlessly patient he was with Crystal Bot's inane musings. "However, I feel obligated to point out that it is illegal for a robot to feign humanity, Sonata. Might I mention that trying to create teleportation devices that bypass teleportation dampeners is also highly questionable."

Crystal Bot scowled and folded her arms. "Lame. Laws make life so boring. And shhhh, you don't know about my teleporters. Heehee, so I'm gonna make you a name anyway -"

Bright Man burst into the door, only quickly acknowledging Pharoah Man before hurriedly searching the lab for something. "Darn it, Crystal, where did you hide my data? You know my medical research depends on it! Don't just stand there, get it out!"

"Oh you're so _nice_, jerk-butt." the girl-bot complained. "Why don't you ask before accusing me? I didn't do it! Besides, I don't mess with science experiments; it's against my religion."

Bass facepalmed and Bright Man looked at her with scornful disdain, but Pharoah Man seemed curious. "Your religion?"

"Oh yeah, didn't I tell you? I'm a member of the Church of Science!"

Few things Crystal Bot did failed to amuse the Egypt-bot. "But that was a joke, wasn't it?"

"Well yeah, at first. But then I decided I wanted to make it a religion, especially when I heard about _Scientology_." Crystal Bot shuddered as she hatefully spoke the word. "Ugh, it's so stupid, and it has nothing to do with science at all! Why would someone even call it that? And then I found this thing called 'Christian Science', but it's about as scientific as it is Christian: not at all! What is it with stupid liars trying to pretend things are scentific when they aren't? Stupid losers. I hate them!"

"That's nice..." Bright Man distractedly muttered. "Well, at least help me find my discs and don't just sit there."

Crystal Bot sighed and started searching the console near Pharoah Man so that she could continue the conversation. "Anyway, _my _church is all about the scientific process: everything we learn in science says something about God. Like explosions for example. They say that God is powerful and dangerous and beautiful. And science itself says that God wants us to learn stuff because learning is fun. So like, the more we learn about science and the universe, the more we learn about God."

That actually made Bright Man pause for a moment. "Oh...and perhaps the growth of plants are God's way of saying that all good things require time to form."

"Eee, you get it!" Crystal Bot squealed. "Might I perhaps have...a convert?"

"Eh, it's definitely scientific..." Bright Man didn't want to admit he thought the idea was intruiging, but he wasn't a particularly religious robot. "I'll think about it."

Crystal Bot squealed even louder. Turning to Pharoah Man, she looked at him with curious expectation.

"As I recall," the Egypt-bot mentioned. "Someone excommunicated me from that church not so long ago."

"Oh, lol, I was teasing. You can be in it if you want."

Bass was exasperated. How long was he going to have to listen to this conversation? It was only slightly less boring than Crystal's usual rantings, and that was only due to his newly acquired interest in philosophy. Though if he had realized it, his own impatience to be out finding his would-be replacement was irritating him more than anything else. And not even his book was helping anymore.

"Am I done yet?"

Crystal Bot checked the computer and pulled the cord out of Bass' neck. "Yep, there you go."

"Good. I'll be back."

"_Bbashya_!" Crystal Bot exclaimed as he signalled for Treble to be ready outside. "Tear 'im to bits, Forte-kun!"

Bass grinned, displaying his bright fangs. "I can guarantee that."

Teleporting outside despite the fact that he really wasn't that far from an outside door, Bass appeared on the already converted Treble Jet and reviewed where he had last searched for Zero, determining where he would be going next. As much as he liked having seen Dr. Light for Christmas, he hated the delay in his quest and wanted to have his work here done quickly. However, just as he was about to teleport to the last location he had searched, he heard the sound of someone yelling from the window.

"FORTE-KUN! YOU GOT A CALL FROM ROLL!"

_" - You could just send me a transmission... - "_

"I LIKE YELLING!"

Bass seethed, ready to punch something. And that something would be Crystal Bot, if she didn't stop acting so immature. _Why can't I just go out and get rid of Zero already? This __**better **__be something important..._

Teleporting back inside, the very snarky Bass instantly reappeared in front of the telecommunicator in Dr. Cossack's lab, making Roll on the other end jump back a little.

"What is it?" he snapped impatiently.

"Everything is going wrong..." A very upset Roll began, looking as if she would cry. "Please, have you seen Rock anywhere?"

"I'm not his babysitter." he spat with a snarl. "How would I know?"

"It's...it's just that we can't reach him! And to make matters worse, Dr. Cain is doing something here in Monstropolis, and Proto Man is wanted for murder! They say he killed Dr. Wily..."

"Really?" Bass curiously asked. While a bit doubtful, Bass thought the idea was sort of funny. "I'm proud of him. About time somebody offed the guy."

Roll shook her head, lowering her gaze in grief. "It gets worse...Dr. Light, he...he doesn't look good..." she sobbed. "He doesn't look like he's going to make it..."

Bass' irritation and attitude disappeared in an instant, leaving in its wake only determined concern. "I'm on my way. Tell the doctor to hang on."

He turned off the telescreen. Turning to Crystal Bot, Bass knew automatically what her reaction would be before he asked. "You coming?"

Trembling from her glitches, Crystal Bot stared at the floor. "No...I better not..." she answered quietly, wishing that she wasn't so afraid. "Better get moving, Dr. Light won't like it if he can't see you again."

"Those teleportation things you were working on, are they ready?" Bass spoke with quick determination. "I don't want the trip taking as long as it did last time."

"I've got a prototype. I can go get it."

"Bring it out where Treble is. I have to get extra fuel cells."

"Forte, please convey the condolences of the Cossack household." Pharoah Man spoke as he stood and pulled the cord out of his neck and the girl-bot teleported away. "Certainly Dr. Cossack will himself wish to go, but as he cannot teleport, it may be too late..."

"I know, I know." Bass snarled impatiently, cutting off Pharoah Man so he wouldn't mention the possibility of losing the doctor. "Do what you can."

Teleporting out to Treble, Bass was surprised to find that Crystal Bot had beat him there, and was also carrying her guitar across her back.

"Y'know, Forte, I was thinking, and maybe I shouldn't be a wuss and just go. And I know how this teleporter boost works, so it's better if I use it and not worry about explaining it to you."

The transmission was not encoded, so Bass could hear it coming clearly. _" - Crystal Bot! You've done it this time! GET BACK HERE NOW! - "_

"So...yeah," the girl-bot grinned weakly. "Can we go...like...now?"

Bass got on Treble and pulled her up behind him. "What did you do?"

"Uh...I didn't hide his data, but I sort of did...um, delete a couple of days from Bright Man's memory to see how long it would take him to notice...eh, hee hee, not long at all."

Would there be no end to Bass' annoyances that day? "Your religion needs one of those 'do unto others' things."

"Oh, he'll be alright. I didn't reformat him."

"Just...just shut up and get us there." The dark robot hissed, too worried about Dr. Light to contemplate shoving her into the Artic Ocean when they reached it. For long.

Crystal Bot quickly silenced. She knew better than to talk when Bass was in that mood, though she could remember no time when he had been more upset, including the the aftermaths of his battles with Mega Man. Sighing, she activated the teleportation boost so that they could make a series of teleportation jumps. Hopefully seeing Dr. Light would put him in a better mood. But as she thought of how close to death Dr. Light was, she couldn't help but glitch.

\\\\\\\\\\

Author's notes:

- As much as it annoys me to have to do this, I would like to point out that this chapter, the last part of the previous one, and the next one are all happening about the same time. It's very hard to convey this in writing, so I hope you understand. Also, sorry about the chapter being short. I didn't want it to turn out like my 10,000 word one.

- I would like to point out that Crystal's religious views are her own, lol. And yeah, Christian Science isn't people who are Christian and like science, like you might think. I just found out not too long ago that they actually don't believe in Jesus as savior, making their name even more ridiculous because that's the point of Christianity. People these days are wack in some of the weird stuff they believe. I won't go on about Scientology. South Park did a good enough job of that. On a side note, Mythbusters is awesome. Y'all watch it?

- Notedly, Crystal Bot is trying to reconcile her scientific ways with Crystal Man's spiritual ways. While she wants to impress him, she realizes that her obsession with science and technology would irritate her father, if he was still alive.

- Yeah, Dan Dunn can only speak in transmissions. Poor baby. He's definitely the Eeyore of the robots. In the bonus features of this story you'll get to see more of him, but sadly, he has little place in the story itself. I love Dust Man and his music. Gah, there's so much more in my head than comes out here. He's definitely my favorite MM4 guy.

====Pharoah Man

An investigator robot for pyramids. He has thousands of henchmen robots.

**"I'm the king of the world!"**

Good point: Charismatic leader

Bad point: Too nice to women

Like: Treasure

Dislike: Raiders

I guess I departed a lot from this. Dang it. I will say that PM has a nice stash of Egyptian artifacts in Cossack's lab that he loves to show off whenever he has an opportunity. Crystal Bot wanted to see it, but naturally Bass couldn't care less.

I wish I could show you how pwnsome Pharoah Man is in my head, but unfortunately that's going to have to wait. He's not very active in this chapter, but you'll get to see him in his full light later. Anyways, I imagine him as a very patient person, and according to my own ideas, he was built before Wily kidnapped Kalinka, and was originally a historian for Cossack who researched herbal remedies of various cultures for scientific viability. He was Mrs. Cossack's favorite robot. After the events of MM4, his directive became to protect Kalinka and Dr. Cossack's lab, though Skull Man is Kalinka's individual bodyguard.

Hence his protective nature of women. He's very chivilrous, and a bit biased towards women in any given situation, particularly human ones. This can be very annoying in certain cases, as women aren't always right, but that doesn't stop Pharoah Man from being a gentleman. Pharoah Man's pleasant behavior around women is actually very ironic, especially considering that Dr. Cossack himself is more than a little awkward in front of them.

His most noted feature is his army of mechaniloids, which he leads with precision and intellegence, and his is the only legally allowed mechaniloid security force on earth. As neither he nor Dr. Cossack are very apt for warmongering, though they will both defend their own with rage if need be. And once the robot apocalypse happens...oh there's need alright. You'll get to see Pharoah Man at his best once it gets to that.


	8. One Night in Monstropolis

The police, both human and robot alike, were more than overjoyed to see Proto Man captured. The red and grey robot struggled to get free of Sight Man, but the thin, insectish limbs of the enemy robot were surprisingly strong. Had Proto Man more advanced parts, he might have been able to escape, but as he saw the four police approaching, he realized that that wasn't going to happen. He had to think quickly.

"Don't listen to him..." Proto Man insisted. "He was made by Nikola Cain."

"Oh ha, funny, coming from a criminal like you." Sight Man laughed in a buzzing tone. "But you'll be getting your due process now. Maybe they won't deactivate you. Perhaps they'll just reprogram you and send you to the mines. Alright, officers," he called out as the cops surrounded him. "You might want to get cuffs on this guy before I let him go."

"He's a liar." Proto Man refused to give up. "His name is Sight Man, and he was not five minutes ago fighting Gyro Man."

"The name's...Ant." the Cain-bot quickly said. "I'm from Sweden."

"Then prove it!" Sight Man turned around to find that Gyro Man had landed behind him, and was pointing a hand at the lying robot master. "Show us your robotic identification card!"

"I...oh, I don't have it on me. I must have dropped it catching this fugitive."

The cops however, grew increasingly more doubtful. One with a particularly distinctive handlebar mustache spoke up. "Uh, there's no such thing. Maybe if you really were who you say, you'd know that."

"Er...well...I caught this guy and I wasn't doing anything wrong!" Sight Man cursed loudly. "You can't prosecute me! Innocent until proven guilty!"

"Yeah right! Like some innocent guy would be trying to fight me." Gyro Man snapped, though he was actually glad that he would have the opportunity to use his temporary authority as guardian of Monstropolis. "You're under arrest, so you'd better come quietly. Though I admit I'd like it better if you didn't...I'd enjoy tearing you to shreds."

"As you wish!"

The black robot flung Proto Man at Gyro Man, but the red and grey robot didn't lose his cool for a moment. Instead of crashing into Gyro Man, Proto Man rolled and caught himself, turning and shooting his buster with deadly precision at the skinny torso of Sight Man. Though startled for a moment, Gyro Man sent several blades after the now fleeing Sight Man.

As the cops scrambled to get into a better position at the very agile Cain-bot and Gyro Man followed after as well, Proto Man jumped into the shadows and thought a moment, assessing the situation.

_What would Sight Man gain from fighting Gyro Man... _Blues mused. _Gyro Man didn't appear to be guarding anything specific tonight, and had he caught Sight Man in some crime, he would have mentioned that. Instead he made it sound like Sight Man just attacked him. So why would he bother?_

Meaning no offense to the reformed Wily-bot, Proto Man reckoned that Gyro Man wasn't an important enough target for either Cain or Sight Man to want to bother with. But he was the city's guardian for the time being, and with Mega Man wherever he was at the time... Proto Man's thoughts darkened as he realized that Sight Man was just a distraction. Quickly his logic programs went to work. The Cain-bots had once taken control of Wily's creations: what stopped them from trying the same trick on the entire city?

_What do I start with? He can't have gotten to all the robots in the city, but if he influenced a place that both manufactures and repairs robots, a popular one, then he could have gotten to perhaps a majority of household and factory robots in the city. Obviously he has some sort of emitter that will signal a rebellion of the robots that activate his virus chips, just as he had before. But where would he hide something like that?_

From what research he had done on Dr. Cain's previous attempt on controling robots, he knew that Dr. Cain would hide the device in an almost random place, one that no one would suspect. But he couldn't find it alone. There wasn't enough time. Immediately he signalled Light Laboratories.

_" - This is the Light household. - " _a sharp, but worried voice answered. _" - Gravity Man speaking. - "_

_" - Listen, Gravity Man. There is, somewhere in the city, a similar device which Dr. Cain used to control the Wily-bots on Skull Island, but he's going to be using it to activate a virus in many, possibly all of the robots in Monstropolis. Can you trace it? - "_

_" - Who is this, Proto Man? - "_

The rogue robot ignored the question, irritated that Gravity Man would mention his name when police would undoubtedly be tracing the radio waves for any sign of him. _" - Can you trace it or not? - "_

_" - Well, I got a look at the earlier device, so I believe I can. - "_

_" - Contact Gyro Man when you have. And where is Rock? - "_

_" - We don't know... - "_

This gave Proto Man pause. Where was Rock when his city needed him? It wasn't like him to be gone like this. Mega Man would never leave his home for so long.

_" - Proto Man, if you're still there...you'll want to know that Dr. Light...he's...he's not doing well- - "_

Blues cut off the transmission.

It was a good thing that Proto Man teleported to the apartment rooftop where Sight Man and Gyro Man were fighting: it didn't look like the green robot was doing so well. Even though his recent upgrades had made Gyro Man a better fighter, he was still not quite a match for the highly skilled and even graceful dodges of the insectoid.

Sight Man noticed Proto Man almost immediately. "Two against one? I don't think so."

Pulling his cannon from his back, he fired off two rounds. Gyro Man fell back as the plasma bullet smacked into his chest, but Proto Man dodged the projectile aimed his way, dodging it with even more eloquence than Sight Man could boast. Proto Man jumped high into the air, his scarf following behind him dutifully and dramatically, then landed smack on Sight Man. Holding his buster up to Sight Man's face, he fired. The point-blank impact shattered Sight Man's head. He was done.

"How did you do that...?" Gyro Man winced as he picked himself up. "You're obsolete...I mean..."

Proto Man had heard that adjective more times than he cared to, but he was used to it at that point. "Skill never goes obsolete. But you will learn - "

"There he is!" The two robots suddenly found themselves surrounded by the small group of cops. "Look, Proto Man, this doesn't have to be difficult. If you just - "

The night was full of interruptions. Without listening to another word, Proto Man jumped over to the next building, and from that rooftop to the next. Let them catch him if they could...and they couldn't. He had evaded authority and enemy alike for most of the years of his existence. He wouldn't get captured any time soon. Proto Man was an expert at getting away. It was his nature.

But if they had known how soon Proto Man had to stop, they might have persued him longer. Jumping down into a side alley, Proto Man had to stop. He glitched terribly, shaking. Trying to calm down, Blues dragged himself over to a wall and sat, reluctantly downing his second E-tank for the night. He wondered how much longer he was going to be able to keep this up; his power core problem was getting worse. As he rested, he noticed that he was getting a transmission.

_" - Break Man...Break Man, are you out there? Come in. - "_

Proto Man might have smiled slightly if he hadn't been so exhausted. He hadn't used his nickname for many years, and he was surprised that Gyro Man knew it. But just in case it was important, he responded.

_" - I'm here. - "_

_" - Break Man, I have some work for you. Mega Man has gone missing, and I need you to find him and tell him to come back. I know you're not ordinarily a fighter-bot, but since I just destroyed a Cain-bot, there's an absorbable power here that will be more useful to you than to me. I'm sending you coordinates now. Oh, and before you go, there is an anomaly at those same coordinates that I would like you to look into, as it could have something to do with Mega Man's disappearance. - "_

Proto Man was a little amused at how good of an actor Gyro Man was, and he thought it especially funny that Gyro Man took credit for Sight Man's defeat. But he wasn't offended. Gyro Man was obviously trying to contact him without alerting the authorities, and he appreciated the effort. As for the anomaly, he assumed that Gyro Man had gotten into contact with Gravity Man. The coordinates were heavily encoded, but Proto Man was able to figure them out. It was the top of Kauffman Tower.

_" - Hey Break Man...did you hear about Proto Man? You really think that he killed Wily? - "_

Subtle. Proto Man responded calmly, not without a sense of irony. _" - No, that would be very out of character for him. Would you be angry if he did? - "_

It took Gyro Man a moment to respond. When he did, Proto Man could sense a sort of bitterness in his voice. _" - No...or not very much. Wily deserved it. He could have...ah forget it. The guy might have been my creator, but he had it coming. - "_

Gyro Man did feel sorry for his old master, but as he remembered the years he spent being the butt of the other teams' jokes and nothing much more than a sparring partner for the least of the Wily-bots, he remembered his anger. Wily could have upgraded him. He could have changed all of that and had Gyro Man as his loyal fighter, every bit as loyal as Team 2, and every bit as powerful. But Wily, arrogant and forgetful, had deemed him useful only for building and rebuilding the constantly destroyed Skull Castles. He allowed one of his potentially strongest servants to be nothing more than "that stupid propellor-bot", "a forgettable opponent", and "sandwich boy". Gyro Man narrowed his eyes.

_" - So who really did it? Er, I mean who do you think? - "_

Proto Man decided he lost nothing by answering. Before he teleported away, he left one last transmission.

_" - Flash Man. - "_

And then Gyro Man decided that maybe Team 2 wasn't so loyal after all.

-t-

Algorhythm Man, at the top of Kauffman tower, heard everything that had been said. Even the most heavily encoded transmissions were easy for him to crack. And of course he knew that 'he' was the anomaly. And as much as he would hate having to do this, he was going to have to tell his master what was going on. Cringing, he opened a channel, more encoded and narrow than the world had ever previously known.

_" - Master, I have bad news. Sight Man was destroyed. - "_

_" - Pathetic machines! - " _the irritated and possibly distracted Dr. Cain responded. _" - Can't be expected to do a decent job's work when it comes to anything! If I could I'd install human brains in all of you and be done with mechanized minds. - "_

Algorythm Man was more than used to Dr. Cain's constant derision of robotkind. _" - The good news is, we have phase one of Monstropolis' destruction almost ready. The first wave of our virus infected is ready to go. - "_

_" - Then don't wait any longer. The sooner those people think that we're just going to take over their city's pathetic mechaniloids the better. Ugh, the army should have known better than to include robots. - "_

_" - One last thing... - "_ Algorhythm Man said, his voice getting a little hopeful. _" - I heard that the renegade Bass is returning to Monstropolis. With your permission, I would like to destroy him. He's had it coming since he last stopped us. - "_

Dr. Cain did not like any mention of his previous failure to destroy Monstropolis. _" - Crap...no, you can't. Mega Man is almost in position, and it's more important that you stick to the plan. As bad as it is that Bass is showing up again, he can't stop an entire military by himself. Mega Man is a more important priority, and if he also reaches Monstropolis, then things will be much worse. - "_

_" - But Doctor- - "_

_" - Those are my orders! - "_ Dr. Cain snapped. _" - Do as you're told! - "_

_" - Yes, sir... - "_

Algorhythm Man sighed. As much as he wanted to help, he was angry at what Bass had done to his siblings. Once Mega Man was nothing more than dust and the occasional blackened bolt, Algorythm Man promised himself that the dark robot would be next. For now, he would start the first wave of rebellion, and try to find Sight Man's absorbable power before that "Break Man" showed up.

But before he could do anything, he was hit by a random plasma shot. Falling back on the roof of Kauffman Tower, he quickly got to his feet, only to find Proto Man, now red and black, standing on the other side with the sight cannon.

_Looks like that shot didn't do too much damage... _Proto Man noted. _This one isn't his weakness._

"Why did you do that?" Algorythm Man feigned offense. "What have I done?"

"I know you're Algorthym Man." Proto Man responded. "I saw the footage of you from Alaska."

"How do you know it was me? Maybe another robot simply looks like me."

"You're acting just the same. If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck..."

"Then it's a robot duck with a synthesized voice." Algorythm Man replied. "But whatever, I don't have time for you. You're too late. Say goodbye to Monstropolis, 'Break Man'. Hm...that Gyro Man is a traitor, associating with murderers..."

With that, Algorythm Man jumped into the air, and before Proto Man realized what he was doing, the Cain-bot had activated a signal. Proto Man realized that that was the very thing he had been looking for, and now it was too late. Already he could hear the screams of people below as their ordinary household, storekeeper, and public robots were going on a rampage.

"No!" Blues exclaimed, for once showing a little emotion as he gasped and stared at the scene below, with innocent people running for their lives as the sushi-bot from Murphy Road was brandishing his gleaming knives.

"Haha HA ha ha HAAA!" Algorhythm Man laughed, suddenly sounding about ten times more crazy than he had before. "Okay, I admit it, I'm guilty as charged. But as I can't have you interfering - "

The hack-bot shot his colorful plasma pellets at Proto Man, who was able to block them with his shield. However, Algorhythm Man jumped straight over the sheild and was rushed in, grabbing Proto Man by the scarf and shoving him off the side of Kauffman Tower. The Cain-bot teleported out instantly afterwards, a stroke of luck for Proto Man, as the intrepid robot had managed to grab onto the edge of the tower's roofing and pull himself up.

But at once Blues noticed that something was wrong. Because he was so old, many new privacy devices that were standard in the newer robots were lacking in him. So at any point he could be listening in on TV waves, radio transmission, and even private phone calls. But instead the noise that usually crowded his mind was absent, leaving him in an odd sort of silence. Testing his systems, Proto Man was horrified to learn the truth: Algorythm Man had somehow eliminated his ability to receive and send out transmissions. But how had he done that? Proto Man didn't have any wireless adaptors...

Immediately his hand went to his neck, and he ripped a small chip out of his neck with frightened disgust. Feeling very violated as he inspected the small red chip, he realized that that was only the first step of the chip's program. It had been trying to turn him into one of the rampaging robots below. He shuddered, thankful to have discovered it in time.

_I don't think they could control Rock...but they probably shut down his communications too..._ Proto Man guessed.

There would be no more waiting. If Rock was in trouble, he'd have to do something about it. Checking the last data he had been able to gather before Algorhythm Man had quieted his comm, he realized that he had been able to record most of Algorhythm Man's teleportation code. Some of the numbers were missing, but since the more important ones were there, Proto Man could guess the last digits and find out where Algorhythm Man had gone.

Team 5 would be cleaning up the city, Proto Man figured. He wanted to be going as soon as he could, so he decided to leave securing the city to them. He'd go by Light Laboratories to drop off the chip Algorhythm Man had stuck in him, then he would go.

Thinking of the lab gave Proto Man pause. _Dr. Light is sick...?_

For once, Proto Man thought of his creator. It was never one of his habits to let his mind dwell on his creator, and the two had spoken only once, briefly, since Proto Man's first disappearance from Light's lab.

_"And of course that short conversation had been about him trying to work on me..."_ Proto Man sourly noted.

But there wasn't time for that. Proto Man had to get a move on, fearing that something horrible had happened to his brother. But as he looked down once more at the street, he figured he could at least delay long enough to get rid of that sushi-bot.

\\\\\\\\\

Author's notes:

- The conversation Proto Man is refering to is his ending in Mega Man: The Power Battles, where Dr. Light is telling Proto Man of his glitch and asking to fix it for him. Proto Man has an alternate perspective on what happened. That's all I can say without spoiling plot.

- Ha, I had a similar convo with my mom about the "walks like a duck, looks like a duck" thing. I forget what we were talking about, but she said that, and I think it sounds cute. People from the southern states of America say cute things, like "if it was a snake it would've bit you". A surprising number will name their pets "booger", and I'm so not kidding. We had cats once named Booger and Twitters. And if you're a woman from the south, you have called random strangers "sweetheart" or "honey" at some point. Lol. I've heard that yankees say "y'uns" instead of the southern "y'all", but I don't think that's true.

- A note on teleportation. Normally, a teleportation field is what allows a robot to go from one place to another, but not living matter, as anything alive will die if its molecules are all separated for any amount of time. The field doesn't extend everywhere on the earth. There are many places, mostly third-world countries, that have no field at all, but a simple portable forward field generator solves that problem. Though these generators are very rare, as they are expensive, restricted, and not really much use to most robots, as there is no need for many of them to go to such places. Currently only Mega Man, Proto Man, Bass, Rush, Treble, and Auto have them, as well as some robots that work for charity organizations that reach out to countries with significant poverty. Only the government can decide who gets them, though the ones Bass and Treble have installed were ones stolen by Wily.

There are places, however, immune to these devices. They have a teleportation field dampener is installed. The dampeners will prevent a robot from teleporting in, but allow a robot that got in by walking or flying to teleport out - which is why Mega Man can teleport out of a boss battle room after fighting, but not into it and has to find a distant enough place to teleport in. There are some that work the opposite way, but these are less common. No model can currently block both inward and outward teleports at the same time.

Crystal Bot, ever the one to want freedom from boundaries, is actually working on teleportation devices that will enable her to teleport in and out of dampened areas. So far she is able to speed up teleportation and extend teleportation range. These devices, however, cannot be installed within a robot. They must be used as outside devices as they are not stable enough to be readily activated inside of a robot.

====Gyro Man

**"That is not a problem."**

Good point: Proudful

Bad point: Disdain

Like: Greek sandwich

Dislike: Jet engine

Japanese CD data:

Like: Bamboo-copter

Dislike: Jet engine

Gyro Man, in my eyes, is more arrogant than the other Team 5 robots. Out of all of them, he feels the least deserving of being on the team, that he could have been so much stronger if he had been built earlier by Wily, and feels that he should have been on Team 3 instead of Top Man. However, his original abilities with the gyro blade left him very vulnerable, and at best annoying to Mega Man in their original fight. Very bitter about it, he was the first one to ask Wily to upgrade the team (though all he really wanted was an upgrade for himself). Wily refused, as he had designed Team 5, after their fight with Mega Man, to be the servant bots for Wily Castle, and Wily was more concerned with Teams 7 and 8 (given that six wasn't built by him) than his older robots.

Gyro Man was closest to Crystal Man when the latter robot was alive, but still not very. As for the other Team 5 robots, if he hadn't been one of them he would have treated them just as badly as the other robot masters did. However, they were his only friends at the time, so he eventually learned to tolerate them, and eventually developed some loyalty to his team, especially when he found out why Wily killed Crystal Man.

Now that he has the opportunity, Gyro Man wants to get on the same level of skill as Mega Man, Bass, and Proto Man, as one of the more powerful robots in the world. However, without the skills of either Light or Wily to bolster him, he has little chance of this unless another major robotics genius comes along. This however, will not stop him from trying. He's very hot-headed, not always waiting on Wave Man to make choices for him, like how he managed to convince Stone Man to help him in Okkusenman.


	9. The Right Thing

Mega Man paused.

For the past day, the hero of Monstropolis had been tracking down the missing oil. It was easier to find than Algorhythm Man, as there had been a suspicious trail of oil tankards throughout northern Oregon. As for Algorhythm Man, he had disappeared. Mega Man wasn't too worried, as he figured at one point or another the oil trail would lead him where he needed to go. But what was all that fuel for?

At the moment, the blue bomber was flying on Rush above a very lovely Oregon forest, headed for the mountains in the distance. The brisk January landscape looked much the same as Alaska, thus far that Mega Man had seen, with its snow and its trees. But as all robots would, Mega Man loved winter, and he could wait a long time for warmer weather to return. After all, once he got to Monstroplis again, it would be back to the normal, non-snowing weather.

"Alright Rush, from what I can tell, there might be a base in those mountains." Rock told his loyal dog. "Or at least an army or something, because that's how far I know the oil has gone. Hopefully we'll find out what to do from there. But I wonder why Dr. Light hasn't contacted me...maybe I should call-"

It turned out that Mega Man was right. As he spoke, on the edge of the mountain below, he began to see smaller robots, mechaniloids, scattered below. Engaging his zoom feature, he saw that these were unlike any Wily mechaniloids he had ever seen, and they didn't belong to anyone in Monstropolis. Definitely Cain-bots. Mega Man was a little surprised to see that they were out in the open, not hiding in wait. And instead of being white to blend in with the snow, or at least green or brown for summertime, these mechaniloids were bright blue round things that hovered just above the ground, sparking with electric energy.

"Oookay..." Rock wondered raising one eyebrow higher than the other. "That's pretty obvious. Do they want me to see this? Huh...well then...I don't think I'll use my super armor for this guys, so I can just take them out quickly. It doesn't look like they'll be too much trouble. Let's go down, Rush!"

As Rush lowered the two of them to the ground, Mega Man charged up his buster, glowing almost as brightly as the round electroloids as they angrily pulsed around him. He jumped from his dog and let loose the full burst, killing one instantly. The others took few shots to take down as well. While there were more of them than Mega Man had realized, it wasn't a full army. Wherever these had come from, there would be more.

And there were. Up from the ground drills tore through the cold dirt and little yellow mechaniloids lifted out of the ground, little oval shaped things with two drill arms that spun and dove after the blue bomber. As if these weren't enough, red buzzing robots flew over. They looked like flying submarines with angry eyes, but powered by two propellor blades on their underside that helped them hover off of the ground. They appeared to be coming out of a strange grey building nestled between two of the mountains, doubtlessly Dr. Cain's base of operations.

But as Mega Man and Rush soon found out, was that the mechaniloids weren't the true threat. While he was attacking the various mechaniloids, suddenly something like a wave hit his sensors, and he fell back, completely stunned. The mechaniloids parted from him, allowing another robot to land, this one definitely not a mechaniloid. As Mega Man struggled to his feet, he observed a midnight blue robot with spiked hands, boots, and a ridiculously large spike coming out of his left shoulder.

"Like that attack? It's a small EMP wave that is very handy when troublesome do-gooders are afoot."

"Let me guess: Epic Man."

The other robot looked a bit surprised, but nonetheless pleased. "Why yes it is, Mega Man! How wonderful of you to recognise me!"

"No, I just guessed right this time. But Epic Man, please listen." Mega Man began. "It doesn't have to be like this. We don't have to fight! There's no reason why we have to have these wars. We can build a society where robots and humans can be at peace!"

"Actually, there's just one thing wrong with that." Epic Man folded his arms as one side of his mouth bent in a crooked smile. "Robots."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"We robots are the problem, Rockman. Even before us, machines were taking over things they had no right to. Mass producing low quality goods when human-made ones are of better quality and provide more jobs. And now we are taking over things that humanity things it is above: menial labors and dangerous occupations, even wars. You yourself are a sign that humanity has given itself up to conveniences and forgotten its own heros, choosing instead to rely on machines for them as well."

"But...but you're a robot!" an aghast Mega Man stammered. "I know Dr. Cain must have given you that opinion, but how can you hate what you are? And why would he build you in the first place if he didn't like you?"

The darker blue robot only smiled more, his face contorting in an awkward and scheming expression. "That's simple; to show humanity its failings, of course. I don't hate myself, but am proud to be a part of that lesson: to not allow robots to take over what they once were and should always have been. They never should allow imperfect beings like us to exist, or we will be the death of them. They themselves prophesied that we would one day turn on them." Epic Man laughed with bitter glee. "And that's what your precious Monstropolis is learning right now. As we speak, all of the once quiet and servile robots of your the city are rising up against their masters and making ruin of the home you love. Isn't that wonderful?"

Mega Man gasped. "Oh no! I've got to get back...wait, what have you done to my teleporter?"

Epic Man shot off a torpedo, and despite the bomber's dodging, it traced him and shot him backwards. Mega Man hit the snow and underlying dirt with a crunch. As he lay there on the ground, he noticed an orange robot standing over him.

"Hi there." Algorhythm Man beamed down on him in his evil and sarcastic manner. "Oh, and just so you know, I took out your communications too. I'm surprised you didn't notice sooner. I did do it back at Garden Way."

Epic Man walked towards the blue bomber, who Algorhythm Man allowed to stand up again. "Oh, and that's just the first strike, 'Mega' Man. After your little civilian-bots are taken out by those pathetic former Wily-bots, we'll send in the the army's specialized combat robots, teaching humans a devastating lesson about having mechanical soldiers. Ha! They might already be on their way to help quell our first little rebellion! And as that attack reaches its zenith, our own mechaniloids will join in and finish the city off."

Rock exclaimed, "I don't know why you have to do this, but I won't allow you to continue! Even if I have to fight my way past you both and these mechaniloids here, I'll stop you from hurting people!"

Epic Man turned to his sibling-bot and laughed. "Oh, he plays his part in his little fantasy so well, doesn't he, Al?"

"Quite, quite. You might almost think he has real emotions."

And so the fight began.

-t-

Bass took the time to fight a few of the rebelling robots, but when he came to Monstropolis, most of them were being dealt with by Team 5 and the police. Normal household robots weren't as threatening as robot masters, and Bass didn't want to have to bother with them anyway. All he wanted to do was see Dr. Light, and he didn't even bother stopping by the lab before heading to the hospital.

"I'll...I'll just stay out here, Forte-kun." Crystal-bot said nervously as she glanced around the hallways of the hospital in fear of the place. Bruce tweeted, indicating to his mistress the waiting room a few feet off.

"What happened to you trying not to be a wuss?"

"Yeah, I lied."

"Whatever." Bass rolled his eyes and entered the doctor's room, more than a little irritated at his technician.

Dr. Light had been placed in the same room as before, and it was good because it was a very open room with large windows that beheld the city. But as Bass entered the room, the drapes were closed. Dr. Light was almost asleep, but as Bass entered he opened his eyes and tried to sit up a little. Roll, ever at his side, looked back, sort of glad to see Bass. The dark robot was amused to see that she was still afraid of him, but he let it pass.

"Hey Doc."

"Bass! I'm so happy you came!" Dr. Light's voice was faint and little more than a whisper. "Here, come sit down. How has everything been since I last saw you?"

Bass obeyed, wondering if Dr. Light knew anything about what Dr. Cain was doing outside. "Things are good. They'd be better if you were."

Dr. Light chortled and sighed. "Ah, don't worry about me. You won't have too much longer to do that in any case."

"Please don't talk like that, Doctor." Roll spoke up meekly, fighting the losing battle to stay optimistic.

"Oh, sweetheart," Dr. Light tried to console her, his eyes revealing how much he hated what his condition was putting her through. "This was going to happen sooner or later. I just wish...oh, Roll, I left some papers in my office that I want to take a look at. They should be right there on top, not hard to find at all. Please bring them to me."

"Doctor!" Roll was almost exasperated. "You're always thinking about work."

"I know, I know. But go along. I want to speak to Bass anyway."

"Um...alright." Roll was unhappy to leave his side for any amount of time, but she did what she was told and teleported out.

"Doc, what are you doing here?" Bass was blunt, as always. "You should be back at the lab, near as you can be to that mind-storage machine."

Dr. Light started to object, but he seemed to change his mind, quietly settling back. "I should, I should. But it would be nice to live a little longer...I wish Rock was here. I was hoping that he would be here when the time comes, but he has to save the world and all..." Dr. Light's gaze lowered, and he sighed. "...Oh, I'm just a selfish old man, aren't I?"

"No. The guy's basically your kid." the dark robot insisted. Pausing a moment, he thought of an idea. He didn't like it, but he knew it was something he'd regret more if he didn't do. He didn't want to leave Dr. Light, but he felt like it was the right thing. Very reluctantly, he spoke again. "Look, I'll go get him. I'll go deal with whatever he's fighting and he can be here with you."

Bass started to get up, but the doctor objected, frowning and putting out a weak hand. "Don't act like that."

"Like what?"

"That I don't consider you every bit as much of a son."

Bass was taken aback. For a moment he was completely speechless. Finally he was able to ask, "Why would you say that?"

"Because it's true. You represent every ideal that I have built into my creations, and you are my friend. You have no idea how happy I have been these past few months seeing you reach your true potential. I couldn't be more proud of you, Bass."

That stunned him even more. Bass sat down, speaking quietly, "I wish you had been the one that built me."

"That doesn't matter." Dr. Light stated firmly. "I still consider you a part of my family."

"All the same...I should still get Rock. It wouldn't be fair."

"Stay a few minutes, at least. Please."

Bass gave in. "Sorry about Crystal Bot. She should get in here and at least say hi. She's too much of a wimp."

It didn't bother Dr. Light any, and his smiled a bit in amusement. "As intelligent as she is, she's very much a child in her understanding. You can't expect too much of her. I did what I could for her, but I'm afraid that X's parts were not meant to be combined with normal robotic minds. Wily must have done some engineering to get her to simply work in the first place. Crystal Man was in way over his head when he created her."

"You got rid of all Wily's crap so that she'll work properly, right?" Bass mentioned his creator's name with pure scorn. "I don't want to be stuck babysitting her all the time."

"Not all of it needed to go. It was meant to protect her. Crystal Bot is capable of many emotions that she will never fully be able to understand." Dr. Light explained. "But don't worry, she should learn just as any other robot would. Though in the end I'm afraid she's a bit of a walking experiment, and only time will tell how she'll turn out."

"Great." Bass changed his tone. "Er, sorry I'm bothering you with all this."

"Oh no, I love thinking about these sorts of things. I could never tire of robotics." Dr. Light's weak gaze was cheery, but dimmed somewhat. "I'll need any intellectual stimulation I can get. I hope Rock will finish what he's doing and arrive soon...and there's always the hope that my prodigal might show up..."

"Who?"

Bass thought about it a moment, remembering that there was always one robot that Rock referred to as "brother". He immediately scowled. If Proto Man had stayed away from his family as long as he had, not even bothering to show up the last time Dr. Light was in the hospital, there was no point in hoping for him to arrive. While of course Bass didn't express this out loud, the doctor could see what he was thinking.

"I know, I know. I'm just a sentimental fool, I suppose." Dr. Light's eyes drooped, making him look even older than his many years. "But he was my first creation, my first real intelligent robot...I made a lot of mistakes then. Things should have been a different for Proto Man when he was activated. A lot different. I miss him so much..."

That was an understatement. Even Bass could see that.

"Hey, you...you get some rest. You're looking tired."

"Hmm...all these medicines they have me on...some days I think I should have been a physician instead." Dr. Light murmured drowsily. "But I suppose you're right."

Bass stayed with Dr. Light a few more minutes, waiting for him to fall asleep. It didn't take long, but Bass waited a little longer anyway, hoping that Dr. Light would still be alive when he returned. But as much as he didn't want to, he would have to leave and get Mega Man. He wondered briefly if he would be able to get Proto Man to show up, but since it was anyone's guess where Blues was at any given time, he doubted it was worth searching.

_If Proto Man's such a soulless bastard that he wouldn't show up to say goodbye to his own creator, then I don't care._ Bass thought to himself before signalling Crystal Bot. _" - Sonata, get in here now. - "_

_" - Do I...do I really...? - "_

_" - YES, you really have to, so get in here before I drag you in. - "_

In a moment, the door opened slowly, and a frightened Crystal Bot appeared, peeking in nervously.

"Get in here." Bass hissed, trying not to be too loud as he pulled her through the doorway. "Alright, you're staying here with him. Don't argue with me! I've got work to do and I'm not leaving him by himself. So you're just going to get over yourself, yes?"

The girl-bot timidly nodded. "_Algessimneedah_..."

Bass teleported out. Even more frightened than before, Crystal Bot nervously approached the doctor, glad he was asleep. Pulling one of the chairs away from the bed, she sat down several feet away, wondering how long she was going to have to stay. Dr. Light's wheezing breaths were horrible, and other than that the only sound in the room was a few tweets by Bruce as he found a perch on the curtains. But as soon as he settled down, nothing but the rough and unrhythmic breathing of Dr. Light. To make matters worse, he started twitching in his sleep, groaning and muttering as if he were having some sort of nightmare. Crystal Bot got even more scared.

Thinking as hard as she could, Crystal Bot remembered her guitar, and that she had heard somewhere that music had a magical effect on humans. It was one of the reasons she had wanted to play guitar in the first place.

"Okay...so I play a peaceful song and he is peaceful...here goes! You can sing too if you want, Bruce."

Crystal Bot didn't know a lot of peaceful songs, as she only liked hyperactive ones. But she strummed the strings anyway, remembering some chords she had heard once when she had met some Russian Jews in Moscow. It was _Ve Hapam Shir Ahava_, from a band she'd never heard of before. She liked their other songs better, but for now this one would do. Bruce seemed to like it, and he added his gentle birdsong to replace the lyrics.

Observing the doctor, she noticed that it seemed to be working. The mumbling stopped, and he seemed more settled in his sleep. Contented, almost. Crystal Bot smiled, and she kept playing.

_Maybe this won't be so bad..._

-t-

The fight was tough. Not only was Epic Man a difficult opponent, but it seemed like Algorythm Man was following his strategy. Mega Man had learned to resist the EMP waves, to some extent, but he had already had to use an E tank. He even had to merge with Rush, so that when Epic Man flew he wouldn't be at too much of a disadvantage.

But definitely the worst part of the battle was when all three of the mechaniloid groups - the blue electroids, the yellow diggers, and the red air cruisers - started teleporting out.

"Guess where they're headed, Mega Man?" Epic Man taunted him.

The blue bomber didn't have to guess. He just kept attacking in the hopes that he would be able to destroy the two robot masters and depart for Monstropolis to save it. Thinking quickly, he realized that he'd been fighting wrong. Epic Man had more powerful attacks, so Mega Man had been fighting him more of the two. But Algorhythm Man was the one preventing him from teleporting or communicating.

_Communications! That's it!_ Mega Man started getting excited. _However he's blocking my teleports, Algorhythm Man is doing that constantly and I'll have to take him down to get it to work. But since he already took down my comm, if I get it working again I'll be able to signal Monstropolis!_ Mega Man pulled out the device Crystal Bot had given him. _Well, that's odd, I thought I gave this back to Roll. But oh well._

Mega Man quickly stuck the device in his zip drive, pressing the pink button. Feeling weird for just a moment, it didn't take long for the virus on his comm to be removed.

_" - Auto! Auto, come in! - "_

_" - Rock! I hear you loud and clear! - "_

_" - Listen, I'm sending you some coordinates. I can't get to you right now, but have Team 5 meet there and start destroying a bunch of Cain's mechaniloids that are coming in to attack Monstropolis! And tell the military to shut down all of their robots stationed in California because Cain's trying to hack into them! - "_

_" - I got it! We'll- - "_

With an irritating whine, Mega Man's communications circuit was again rendered inoperable; an increasingly angry Algorhythm Man had caught him. But he had done what he needed to do. Auto, back at the lab, sent out Team 5 to the appropriate location. Tracing where the transmission had come from, Auto sent a message to Bass.

\\\\\\\\\\

Author's notes:

- Okay, this is better. I don't like it when chapters get too bogged down and long. And this is the right chapter! Yay! Gah, this story was supposed to focus more on Rock, as well as Proto Man, but I think Proto is really coming out on top here (I say as I barely mention him in the chapter). So I guess this one is Proto Man's story, as it concerns his character development. Heehee, y'all Proto fans are gonna hate me when I write what happens to Proto in the next story...muahahaha...lol, it will be the robot apocolypse anyway. Many deaths are planned. I hope y'all weren't too attached to Teams 4 and 5. Or any other robots. :D Hm, maybe I enjoy killing them off too much.

- I would post a link to Ve Hapam Shir Ahava on youtube, but I can't find it again, possibly because the song was listed with hebrew letters, which my keyboard doesn't support even if I knew the language. I wish I did, because it's gorgeous. The song title means "Love Song This Time", and by the guys that did this way more hyper song, Push the Button: youtube .com /watch?v=jz0qww8eKsE. If you want to listen to more Hebrew music, _Lamut me Ahava_ or "Die out of Love" can't be missed. It is teh pwn, especially if you look up the lyrics. youtube .com /watch?v=ipUoAjbYEqc

- Oh yeah, for those of you who might not have read Okkusenman, algessimneedah means something like "I'll go do that, sir" or "as you wish" in korean. It's formal tone, for those who should be honored or respected. Crystal Bot doesn't really feel the need to honor Bass in this way, she's just always mixing up formal and informal tone without caring if she gets it right or not.

=====Algorythm Man  
**"I know all your secrets!"**  
Good point: great hacker  
Bad point: sarcastic  
Likes: knowing important facts  
Dislikes: failure

Algorythm Man was designed to be able to know as much as possible about other robots, and while his weapon is pretty mediocre (and just plain pretty), his main advantage is that he can hack into any robot that tries to fight him, figuring out their strengths, strategies, and weaknesses. His ability to do this is limited by only the security on the individual robots. Also, he can decode transmissions, hack into computers, spread viruses, and is generally aware of anything going on around him. It is very difficult to sneak up on him, especially for more modern robots. His normal weapon, the algorythm dynamo, is actually pretty mediocre, and it balances out his very intelligent battle AI.

He is definitely a know-it-all, and to make his personality worse he will almost never answer a question straight, except to Dr. Cain, because he just knows better. But if you want to know anything, you're better off just hacking into him, because he enjoys being annoying and thinking of new ways to irritate everyone around him, other than his siblings and boss. He hates failure, and his biggest fear is that Dr. Cain's plans are not going to work. He has a grudge against Bass for beating the earlier Cain-bots, and he wants to make sure that Bass pays for it.


	10. Last Chance

Mega Man was having a hard time of it. Epic Man would constantly fly above him, and if the blue bomber followed him on Rush, Algorhythm Man would shoot from below. Not that his shots were particularly powerful, but he would detect and even seem to anticipate all Mega Man's attacks. Even worse, he could transmit what he knew to Epic Man. Mega Man could take out the torpedos of Epic Man without too much trouble, and the EMP wave was held at bay by Rock's now-equipped super armor, but if he tried to attack Algorythm Man first, the midnight-blue robot would take advantage. And finally, neither of them seemed vulnerable to the power bullet, the weapon Rock had gained from Bullet Man.

"Oh, it's you!" Algorhythm Man suddenly mentioned. "I'd say it's nice to see you again, but unfortunately, you happen to be rather hard on the eyes. I'm just glad that you wear shades."

Proto Man was using the sight cannon again, as it had pretty good range despite not being Algorythm Man's weakness. But as soon as he got close enough, he returned to his normal buster.

"Blues!" Mega Man exclaimed.

"Rock." Proto Man returned the greeting without losing his focus, but affording himself one sideways smile at his brother. "Let's go to work."

And Proto Man was certainly ready to work. He went after Algorythm Man, blocking the wave of colorful plasma that came after him. Hiding behind his shield only long enough to block the shots, Proto Man was quick to jump up with a spread of buster shots. Algorythm Man's lights flashed dangerously as the hits connected. He snarled, charging forward to get his revenge. He cursed, and Proto Man grinned, knowing why. He was so old, his parts weren't all that hackable; Algorythm Man would have to defeat him without cheating.

Mega Man was doing much better against Epic Man now that Algorythm Man was occupied. With the EMP wave's reduced usefulness, this was only a little different from fighting Dive Man, another robot with tracing torpedos. Epic Man was faster and could dash, but Mega Man still knew he could win. As confident as the Cain-bot was when he had the advantage, Epic Man was very irritated with more even odds, and his lackluster battle AI was showing.

-t-

Bass knew what was going on outside, but now that he had found Mega Man, he didn't want to take over Rock's battle just yet. The real problem was the one inside Cain's base, the grey building clustered next to the mountain. So Bass entered the building and let the other two good guys deal with Epic and Algorhythm Man. Though the exterior of Cain's home was grey and dull, barely distinguishable from the snow, but the inside was rather bright and cheery. Bass passed by the full kitchen, thinking that the plates were a bit too pretty for a mad scientist to own.

_Doesn't this place have any security? _Bass thought with contempt. _This guy has no clue what he's doing._

Bass thought this a bit too soon. As he turned a corner, trying to find something in that house that proved to be villainous rather than homey, some form of opposition showed up: a little teal robot.

"Who are you?" Bass sneered at the spiky, toothy thing, aiming his buster at it.

"YOU!" The robot, Demi, snarled in his raspy voice. "You've given the master a lot of trouble!"

"Yeah, there's more where that came from."

Immediately was firing his buster, Bass started the attack. Demi, however, was very agile. The clawed creature hopped past most of the buster shots, jumping off the wall and landing smack on the black and gold robot. Chomping down on Bass' neck, Demi started hacking into his zip drive.

"Augh, get off me!"

He flung Demi across the room. Once the Cain-bot hit the wall and collapsed, it started twitching and making odd noises as it tried to get back on its claws. But it failed, collapsing. Bass wondered for a moment, but then burst out laughing as he remembered Crystal Bot's upgrades to his security.

"That's what you _get_ for trying to hack me." he said, smirking. "I'll go ahead and put you out of your misery."

The poor little robot exploded as the Bass buster hit it, leaving behind only a few smoky bits of metal teeth.

Bass noticed some downwards stairs as he went further on. They didn't match the nice, hardwood interior of the house, as they were cold and concrete, and none of the nature scenes that adorned the halls of the rest of the house were in the stairwell. The door at the bottom was open, and Bass could hear some muttering. Descending the stairs as quietly as he could, Bass went ahead for a look. There, near the front of the room, was Dr. Nikola Cain, cursing and mumbling as he was working on something electronic. Bass couldn't see at that angle what he was doing, so he got a little closer.

"Ugh, if this doesn't work..." Cain mumbled to himself, letting his words fall away without finishing his sentence. His focus was on carefully fixing a bit of wiring that was proving difficult.

"...Then it'll be just like everything else you ever built." Bass finished for him. "What are you doing anyway?"

"GAH!" Dr. Cain started. "YOU! You're not supposed to be here!"

"Well, you're trying to destroy Monstropolis, so yes I am." Bass came down further and looked into the room, where his confidence immediately changed to shock. "Are you crazy? This - "

_***BOOM***_

And the blast consumed the building.

-t-

Proto Man flung his shield at Algorhythm Man, planning in his head to charge and strike the Cain-bot while his vision was obscurred, but he had pushed himself too far. His body was beginning to force itself to lower the power usage. He couldn't take much more. Algorhythm Man noticed this weakness with glee, rushing forward to finish off Blues.

Only a sudden explosion stopped him. Turning back, a plume of smoke was rising up from where Dr. Cain's makeshift lab had been.

"Master!" Algorhythm Man exclaimed with shock. "How?"

Proto Man took full advantage. By the time Algorythm Man had come to his senses, Proto Man had his buster in the Cain-bot's face. That was the end of Algorythm Man, and Proto Man gained the power of the algorhythm dynamo.

Epic Man looked down in anger, leaving the fight with Mega Man and doing something between a teleport and a dash to catch up with Proto Man, Quickly changing from red and grey to orange and gold, Proto Man fired the algorhythm dynamo barely in time to hit the approaching enemy. A short white plasma shot emerged, exploding into rainbow neon colors as it hit Epic Man's chest...and did nothing.

"You really think that I would remain near a robot whose power I am vulnerable to?" Epic Man disdainfully remarked.

But his frown soon twisted into a smirk as he grabbed the dizzy and drained Proto Man by the neck and dashed again, this time flying up the side of the mountain. Mega Man was forced to get out of his super armor to chase, but as soon as he did, Epic Man hit him with another EMP wave, which knocked him down several feet and left him stunned for a few seconds. Only as Epic Man stopped at the peak of the mountain did Mega Man get a chance to catch up.

"That's close enough!" Epic Man hissed, holding a weakened Proto Man by the scarf with only one arm. "You stay where you are! You see, 'Mega' Man, or 'Rock' or whoever you are, this volcano is _active_, and I don't think your friend Blues here will like what he finds inside."

"Please don't!" Rock begged, wishing he could somehow get a shot in without endangering Proto Man.

"Why not? I suppose you'll do anything to save him?"

"He's...he's my only brother..." Mega Man said, his voice dropping into lower tones as he realized there was nothing he could do. Speaking up in a more audible volume, he asked, "What is it you want anyway?"

"Algorhythm Man was _my _brother." Epic Man apparently had better hearing than Mega Man expected. He violently shook Proto Man, whose glitching was only getting worse. "And what I want is for you to _**suffer**__._"

He released his grip on Proto Man.

Proto Man could barely hear his brother's scream. His vision was fading as well, and he could only marginally see the hot magma as it neared him. He imagined how the hot, molten rock would dissolve his armor in a matter of minutes, rupturing violently as it tore its way to his power core. And until that moment, Proto Man would be aware of his slow death. His shades would dissolve, and his eyes, but his mind would be awake until that last, final moment. His only comfort was that it would be painless, as robots had no sensory perception. But then he realized it would only be painless for him.

_So this is how I'll die..._ he could barely think. _Rock, I...I'm sorry..._

With a sudden jerk, Proto Man noticed that he wasn't getting any closer to the magma anymore. In fact, he was getting farther away from it. Something had hold of his scarf and was pulling him out. An ungentle hand flung him across something, which Proto Man managed to fling his arms around, holding on for dear life. His head was starting to clear, and just as he started to get some sense of his surroundings, he noticed that whatever he was riding was landing. He fell back in the snow, glad that his power core was holding up and starting to right itself. He hoped that he would be able to rest until he felt normal again.

"Hey Rock, just kill the guy already, okay?"

Proto Man looked upwards at Bass, his rescuer, who shoved an E tank in his face. He gratefully accepted. He drank it slowly, looking at the dark robot and his dog. Both of them, especially Bass, were ridiculously dirty, covered in ash and multifarious nicks and dings. He also noticed with some dismay that his scarf was covered in streaks of the black dust too. But what surprised him the most was the equally dirty human Bass held over his shoulder. He coughed up more ash as Bass grumpily contacted the nearest emergency medics. That done, Bass looked down at Proto Man.

"You...you saved me..." Proto Man managed to say, still not quite feeling like himself yet. "Why?"

Bass wrinkled his nose with contempt. "Eh, I just did it as thanks for killing Wily."

"But I didn't kill him. It was someone else."

"Oh really?" Bass' grinned a very sinister grin, revealing his fangs. "That means you owe me."

Proto Man's jaw dropped, and his bemused expression only made Bass and Treble laugh, leaving Blues to wonder with horror at what Bass might want him to do. Bass' attention went to the battle between Mega Man and Epic Man, and Blues looked upwards at the top of the volcano as well. Epic Man was failing badly, and it wasn't long before he exploded, leaving behind his weapon: the epic win. That done, Mega Man immediately zoomed down with Rush, landing next to his brother.

"You're alright!" the blue boy exclaimed with pure joy and relief. "Bass! Thank you so much! Oh wow, are _you _alright?"

"Eh, I'm fine. I had to show up, because _someone_ _here _has this annoying tendency to let the bad guy get away." Bass hinted very obviously, making Mega Man squirm a bit in embarrassment. The dark robot then referred to the injured human on his shoulder. "Hey Rock, you will not believe what I caught this idiot doing: he actually was trying to fill one of those inescapable rooms with instant death spikes."

Mega Man couldn't help but laugh, snorting as he tried to contain himself. "I really hate laughing at someone who's hurt so bad, but that's so embarrassing! You know, Dr. Cain, you can't actually do that without creating a very dangerous energy field. It can set fire to almost anything with only the slightest misstep."

"Sure..." Nikola coughed again as he spoke. "Tell me that _after_ my house explodes. Now put me down, you maniac."

Bass briefly considered doing that, as he never wanted to save the guy in the first place. "No, moron. There's two feet of snow out here, and you'll freeze. You have no idea how lucky you were that I was between you and the blast, so just shut up until the meds get here."

"I'll be fine!" Dr. Cain snapped. "Now let go of me or suffer the consequences!"

Mega Man, having used the zip device from Crystal Bot again, sensed something odd. "Oh no! That hacking virus that he was using to take over the military's robots...it's still online!"

That was when the remains of Dr. Cain's house started to shift and rise, then fell back down again, sliding off the side of a large flying craft of some sort. It was about the size of a small apartment, and it was grey and square shaped, with light panels on all four corners that could shoot out a barrage of lasers. On its top looked like some sort of cockpit, only it seemed to be controlled by a computer at the time.

"Now that," Dr. Cain gleefully explained. "That is my real laboratory. It can-"

"I've got this!" a very determined Mega Man exclaimed as he jumped once again on Rush.

"At least let me finish you stupid robot!"

Flying upwards, Mega Man equipped the epic win. He noticed right away that it was a chargable weapon, so he powered it up, his usual glow shimmering with a new silver light. Mega Man dodged two clusters of laser fire before shooting his own new weapon, aiming it at the very top. Once the charge on the epic win was released, a ridiculously strong electro magnetic beam hit the flying building, bringing it to the ground with a hideous screech. All three robots had to jump or fly out of the way as the massive machine headed straight down the mountainside they were watching from.

Proto Man, once he was out of the way, was starting to feel well enough to teleport out. He had done his work here. But as he tried, he just de-synced again. Looking down, he noticed a very irritated purple wolf chomping onto his leg, intent on keeping Blues where he was. Sighing, Proto Man looked around for Treble's master.

Nearby, a helicopter had teleported in. It was the emergency medical robots, as humans couldn't teleport, and they had come for Dr. Cain.

"You are _not _handing me over to those things!" the bearded mad scientist protested. "No robot can replace a human in medicine! How dare you? Put me down at once."

Bass was mildly amazed that someone so hurt could yell so loud. Handing him over to the medical robots (who were much more careful not to hurt him than Bass), the dark robot hissed, "Shut up for once. You'll see all the humans you want once you get to the hospital. Man you suck. I can't believe it was so easy to take down your lab. It looked like a threat but was nothing. Honestly, you suck more than Wily. His stuff might have been more ugly, but it was at least a little dangerous."

It was a good thing the medical robots had already strapped Dr. Cain onto the stretcher, or he would have doubtlessly hurt himself. "I'll get you back for this! You'll see! YOU'LL SEE!"

Bass laughed cruely. "What a whiner."

"Good job, everyone!" Mega Man encouraged the three robots. "So now all we have to do is see what we can get from this lab's computers and bring them to the lab - Bass, what is Treble doing?"

"What?" Bass turned back to see his wolf firmly gripping Proto Man by the leg. "Ugh, Treble...I'll get that, Rock. And I'll clean up Cain's mess here." Bass' tone grew serious. "You need to get to the hospital in Monstropolis. **Now**."

Rock could tell from the look on Forte's face exactly what was wrong. Horrified, he immediately teleported out, and the dark robot turned to Proto Man.

"That was some pretty good acting there." Blues spoke up, his voice tinged with bitter annoyance. "It almost looked like you hadn't told Treble to keep me here. Now get him off."

Bass, now that he had the advantage, was surprisingly patient. "Hehe. Not yet. It's time we discuss that favor you owe me."

Proto Man cringed. Of all the people to get rescued by, it had to be Bass. Anticipating the worst, Proto Man braced himself for some unreasonable and awful demand.

"I want you to visit Dr. Light in the hospital."

Blinking, Proto Man looked up in surprise. "What?"

"You heard me. For _some_ reason the he wants to see you." Bass contemptfully glared at the loner robot. "He's too nice if you ask me, but that's what he wants, so do it."

Proto Man stared down for a moment, his expression of doubt hidden from Bass. Finally he looked up and spoke. "No."

"What? I don't know why you've ignored the guy since he built you, and I don't care, but you owe me so you're going to see him now, got it?"

"I don't owe you anything." Proto Man said firmly. "You already know my condition. As it turns out, I have less time left than you might suspect. What you did will only extend my existence maybe two weeks, a month if I'm lucky. There's no point in my doing anything for you."

Bass was completely confused and angered. "What's wrong with you? Auto or Crystal could fix you if you asked. Do you want to die or something?"

It took Proto Man a moment to answer. Quietly he answered, "I want it to end."

"What to end?"

Proto Man tried to clarify, doubting that Bass would understand. "Look at Rock. He fights for 'eternal peace', or that's what he'll say if you ask him. But it's not really eternal. Every day he fights normal crime, in between his fights against Wily. And even now with Wily gone it won't stop. Some other mad scientist will rise up, or some other country will get weapons of mass destruction that shouldn't have them, or it will be something else none of us has ever considered. How long will he really keep anything peaceful? There will always be someone else to think they can do what no one else can. There will never be peace."

Bass paused a moment, looking at Proto Man with disgust, a little confused. "So you're saying he should just give up? Crime has gone down 70% since Rock started in Monstropolis. Half the reason normal people don't commit crime is because they're afraid of getting caught. And if Rock didn't stop Wily or whoever, then things would be a whole lot worse. You're not the one who has to do that anyway, so why are you whining about it?"

"That concept exists for everyone. If a person is a philosopher or teacher, there will still be ignorant people in the world, especially after the teachers die. And if someone invents a new thing, that thing will inevitably be used for some sort of evil. In all my wanderings that's what I have learned. You can delay, but you can never prevent evil...and all good things will fade..."

Bass rolled his eyes, wondering how they had gotten on that topic. "Look, if you want to go die somewhere, I couldn't care less. Do whatever you want. But first you need to at least show up for your creator's sake for ten stupid minutes. Or are you too selfish to bother with that?"

"What about _your _creator?"

"You can't compare them!" Bass growled. "First of all, Wily was a jerk and I disowned him. Secondly, he's dead and there's nothing I can do about it. But Light is alive and if you have any decency in you at all you'll go tell him goodbye."

Proto Man stared at Bass, shaking his head as if he were somewhat confused. "You...you're still Bass..."

"No, I'm _Roll_. What the crap are you talking about?"

"I thought...well, your decision to become a hero was sudden. It came out of nowhere. I assumed Dr. Light must have reprogrammed you to some extent."

Bass looked over at his dog, whose grip on Blues' leg had only gotten tighter. "Do you believe this guy?" Turning back to Proto Man, he went on, "Why would Light do something like that? I don't think it would even occur to him. And if he were that kind of guy he would have done it a long time ago, when I tricked Rock to get into his labs."

That was something Proto Man hadn't considered. "But didn't he reprogram Crystal Bot? She seems harmless...sort of. And well, she was afraid of him."

Bass looked at Blues as if he were the dumbest robot ever built. "You idiot! She was scared because he's _old_! Did it ever occur to you to ask her why? All Dr. Light did was make her a little more sane and a lot smarter. He barely touched her personality AI. Sheesh, is that what you're afraid of?"

"He was going to reprogram me...I wasn't good enough for him..."

"And you're _still _not." Bass jeered. "But that doesn't matter to Dr. Light. He can't exactly do anything to you now, so you've got nothing to lose, even if all that crap you said about him was true."

"What do you know?" Proto Man was starting to get angry, and his voice tightened with controlled hate. "You weren't there when I was activated! You didn't see what I saw! Maybe he's not evil, but he's every bit as controlling as Wily. He had his plans for me...I can't be like Rock, Bass, and anyone who expects me to is deceiving themselves. I'm not his robot, and I'm not sure that I ever was."

Bass' eyes bulged and fangs bared. "What? I think the one of us that's spoken to him more than once in the past _thirty years_ just might know a little more about him! Y'know, Blues, I used to think you were at least _smarter _than Rock, but now I know that you're just a different kind of stupid! So maybe he thinks everyone is his friend, but you comparing Light to Wily..." Bass shook his head. "You're messed up."

Proto Man was getting tired of this. "Are you done yet?"

"Almost, you bastard. Maybe you don't care about Light, but I know you at least don't hate Rock. How exactly is he going to feel about you not showing up? And Roll too? How do you think they'll feel when their father on his deathbed is wishing with his last breath to see his lost kid? You might not think you're his, but he definitely thinks you're his son."

The red and grey robot's lips twitched, barely perceptively. He wasn't going to give in, especially not to someone like Bass. After a moment, he spoke. "I do only as I wish. I'm not going to act under obligation."

Bass grimaced with disgust. "You're right about one thing: you're not like Rock. He's at least there when he's needed. You're just selfish. And if you think _you're _not good enough, and I'm the one that fought his Rock all this time...ugh, I give up. I've got better things to do. Treble, let him go."

The wolf was reluctant to let go, as he'd rather tear Proto Man to bits. But Treble always obeyed his master, so he removed his fangs, backing away with a deep growl in his throat. Bass turned away, heading for the remains of Dr. Cain's mobile lab. Proto Man looked down at his leg. Deep indentations from Treble's teeth were in his leg's armor, and he inwardly sighed, wondering if it was worth it to get the damage repaired somehow.

"Hey Proto Man."

He looked up at Bass again. "What?"

The dark robot's eyes narrowed. "If I see you again, I'll kill you."

"Hm, are you sure you can do that?" Blues scornfully commented. "You never had much luck with my brother."

"Don't even pretend that you're a threat to me." Bass hissed. "You take double the damage as Rock."

This shocked the other robot. "Wait, how do you know that?"

"Moron. You let Crystal Bot scan you."

"I didn't give her that much time -"

Bass smirked. "She doesn't need much. Why do you think I keep her around?"

Proto Man stared at him a moment, and Bass was about to leave again. Quickly Proto Man stopped him, asking, "One last thing...if you weren't reprogrammed...why? Why did you all of a sudden decide to become a hero? You could have done whatever you wanted - you still can, probably. Why bother putting up with all those rules that you hate?"

It was a question Bass hadn't fully thought out, and now that someone was asking, he wasn't altogether sure. "Well...Wily thought he could tell me what to do, but Light is completely different. I actually want to listen to him, because I know that he's smart and a nice guy. He doesn't want me to do anything just so I'm obeying him...hell, he never asked me to be a good guy. I just did it because I knew it would make him happy." Bass' somber tone became more mocking as he remembered who he was talking to. "Heh, ironic, isn't it? You were the one built by him, and yet I turn out _better_ than you. I actually care about someone other than myself."

Proto Man immediately tried to protest to that remark, but before he could say one word, Bass teleported away.

Once the dark robot was gone, Proto Man couldn't help but feel like he'd been had. Bass was making astute observations for once and knew about his weakness? Exactly how much had Crystal Bot discovered about him? These circumstances were sickening to someone who was used to having hidden information, and it was annoying that someone else would rebuke him. A thought that was harder for Proto Man to accept came unbidden. Bass cared about Dr. Light.

_"That can't be...Bass hates everyone..."_

But then again, Bass could have demanded anything as a favor. Him wanting something for Dr. Light and not himself was proof enough. If Proto Man had been honest with himself at that point (which he wasn't), he would admit a degree of jealousy. If the dark robot wasn't lying, then he was actually friends with Dr. Light, who was in turn kind to his former enemy. Proto Man didn't want to confront his notions of who his creator was. He didn't trust Dr. Light, and wasn't sure he ever could.

But Bass had managed to get one thing right: Proto Man did care about his brother. He sympathized with Rock, and he wondered if that was who he should have been. He always admired his brother's tenacious optimism and strength. It honestly surprised him how well his brother had done over the years, despite the blue bomber's naiivety and never-failing generosity. And yet, Rock had to have gotten those qualities from somewhere.

_So...what am I going to do?_

After a moment, he sent a transmission.

_" - Rock? - "_

After a moment, there was a response. _" - Hi, Proto Man. - "_

He hated the tragic tone in his brother's voice. _" - How is he? - "_

_" - ...Not good...he's...getting worse. It would be really nice if you would be here, Proto Man. He's waiting for you. - "_

The red and grey robot cringed, unsure of what to do. He thought over his options, not liking any of them.

_" - Proto Man? - "_

Proto Man cut the transmission. He couldn't take it anymore. As much as he sympathized with Mega Man, this was asking a lot from him. Noticing that his power core had settled, he knew it would be safe to teleport. And in moments, he was gone.

\\\\\\\\

Author's notes:

- Gah, I can't believe that I got the most views when I uploaded the wrong chapter last update. :D Ah well, this one's good. So, will Proto Man do what Bass demands? We'll see in the next chapter. Think I did okay with Proto Man's distrust of Dr. Light? I dunno, it's sort of hard to portray, as Light and his robots are all good guys, but of course that doesn't mean Proto Man trusts him. Dr. Light's naiivety, combined with the fact he didn't quite know where he was going when he built Proto Man, resulted in a very awkward "father/son" relationship between Thomas and his bot.

- Yeah, I don't know diddly about volcanoes, so I'm not all that certain if there is a pool of magma at the bottom, or if there's a thin layer of rock (dried magma due to air contact), or maybe a narrow shaft that prevents anyone from being able to fall in it without hitting the inner sides of the volcano first. But this is the robot world so...I do what I want. :D

=====Epic Man

**"I **_**WIN!**_**"**

Good point: confident

Bad point: sinister

Likes: having the advantage

Dislikes: you

That's right, Epic Man is nobody's friend, if you're human anyway. For someone who likes to show humans the error of their ways, he sure doesn't do it for their sake. He doesn't mind robots too bad, as long as he has the advantage. Epic Man is a surprisingly bad sport. He hates any slight advantage his opponents may have, and he's a complete spazz. While he would kill anyone and everyone if he had his own way, his loyalty to Dr. Cain is unquestionably strong, and he would never do anything the slightest bit against what Dr. Cain wants.

As much as Epic Man dislikes humans, he's generally very cheerful and humorous, like most of the Cain-bots, and so anyone who amuses him is likely to escape his wrath. He's very unpredictable, though, so there's no reliable way to get him to do anything. In his free time, he likes to read or watch TV, whatever can interest him in a short period of time, as his attention span isn't great. At times he is easily bored and has to trick people to amuse himself.

=====Demi

**"Yes, Master?"**

Good point: humble

Bad point: annoying

Likes: organizing things

Dislikes: broken dishes

Demi is the housebot of the Cain family, and he enjoys his work a lot. He would be happier if there were more humans to care for, but as is he likes cleaning and making food for Dr. Cain. Most of the work in the house is the result of Demi's work, because Dr. Cain himself spends most of his time within his lab rather than in the house itself. He's the most good-natured of all the Cain-bots, though he can be a pest if he's bored or if you're in his way while he's trying to clean.

His mannerisms and behavior make him sound really suspicious, but normally he isn't that violent. Though he will guard his master with his life, and can be a vicious fighter when provoked (not that y'all got to see much of that here, but he'll get his chance later, muahahaa...). He is also a hacking robot, even more powerful than Algorhythm Man. He is always studying security systems and anti-virus programs so that he can figure out how to get past them, and he's also an expert safe-cracker. Because of the chip in Dr. Cain's brain, Demi also serves as his closest assistant and mind storage.

- I would like to point out that Demi and Epic Man are together here in the character profiles for a reason. Can you figure it out before I post the reason in my next story? It'll be a while, so you'll have some time to figure it out, but if you figure it out, I will call you smart. You may not get it, but it's not as hard as you may guess. I'll give you a hint: the way to figure it out is in chapter 7. Anything else is giving it away.


	11. Goodbye, Dr Light

It had taken Bass only a short time to extract what he wanted from the lab's computers and destroy the place. As good of a programmer as Dr. Cain was, building laboratories was not his strong suit. The giant computer lab was satisfactorily destroyed, and Bass left the removal of the machine to the state of Oregon and their robots. Only taking the time to clean himself up, Bass' next stop was the hospital.

Mega Man, Roll, and Crystal Bot were in the hospital room with Dr. Light, all three looking various degrees of worried. Rock was holding up fairly well, and he and the doctor were discussing something in low tones. Roll was turning up the temperature on the electric blanket, and Crystal Bot was sitting away from the bed, looking very anxious. She looked up as her boss entered.

_" - You're hurt! - "_ Crystal Bot sent him a transmission so that she wouldn't disturb anyone.

_" - I'm fine. Here, take this. - " _Bass pulled out an UltraStore disc. _" - This is what Cain had on his computers. You go ahead back to the labs and work on it. I know you hate it here. Why are you still here anyway? Roll's watching the doctor. - "_

A grateful tech-bot accepted the disc. _" - Thanks. Well, I didn't want to leave Roll here. She's so strong! She's way better at pretending that bad stuff doesn't scare her. And I was worried when I found Bruce was all smashed up here. I just went back to the lab for a minute, but when I came back Bruce was in pieces. I think it was just a nurse who got scared of him, 'cause he can sneak up on people, but I figured it would be better if someone with a gun was here too. Bruce is okay though, and I'll repair him when I get back. - "_

_" - ...I don't think you can have guns in the hospital. They make us get our internal busters deactivated. - "_

_" - Yeah well, I care more about protecting them than I do the rules. But now that you and Rock are here... - " _Crystal Bot edged toward the door.

Bass nodded. _" - Go on, get out of here. - "_

_" - Oh hey, you send me a systems error report, okay? I want to have an automated machine ready to get you repaired. - "_

_" - Yeah, yeah. - "_

As much as Sonata's cowardice annoyed him, Bass couldn't blame her. If it wasn't so important to Dr. Light, he wouldn't be so sure about staying either. But finally showing what her boss considered manners, Crystal Bot went over to Dr. Light, daring to hold his hand.

"Um, I have to go to the lab now, but..._sarang-heh, Light harahbohjee_." Crystal Bot said, fearfully trying her best not to glitch.

Dr. Light smiled peacably, understanding in his aged eyes. "_Na-nun Sonata-do sarang-hehyo._"

Very awkwardly, Crystal Bot gave his hand a gentle squeeze and pulled away, a little too quickly for manners. Hurrying out of the room, she went outside before teleporting. Dr. Light wasn't upset, though. He merely turned to Bass and beckoned him to approach and sit down.

"So Dr. Cain is dealt with?"

Bass was a little surprised he knew, but he guessed that talking about an outside circumstance was better than talking about the present one. "Yeah, he should know better by now. He tried to fill a room with instant death spikes."

Dr. Light laughed, and even Roll managed a smile at that.

"He really did?" the doctor asked with great humor. "How far did he get?"

"A little more than four-fifths up the wall."

That was even more hilarious to Dr. Light. "Ha, well, he's certainly got delicate hands then...haha...I can't believe him. Anyone with any level of electronics knowledge should know better than that."

"But what happened back here?" Bass asked.

"Surprisingly little." Rock answered optimistically. "Team 5 took care of the rebelling robots and the mechaniloids, and the military's didn't even reach Monstropolis before the hacking wave was deactivated. The best part is, no humans got hurt. Dr. Cain just wanted to scare everyone...I think. Well, besides steal some money and wire it to an account out of the country."

"What a jerk." Roll shook her head. "He has to bother everyone just because he doesn't like robots."

Mega Man looked up at the dark robot sitting on the other side of Dr. Light, his eyes both questioning and doubtful. _" - Hey Bass...did you talk to Proto Man? - "_

_" - Ugh, yes. - " _Bass answered with a slight frown, trying not to attract the attention of Dr. Light, who was speaking out loud with Roll.

_" - There's...there's really no point in keeping the doctor here, is there? - "_

Bass shook his head, his eyes narrowing slightly. Rock sighed and bowed his head. Both of them knew that they were going to have to get Dr. Light back to the lab, but it was going to be difficult to tell him not to wait any longer for Blues. So they let Roll do it, stepping outside to get a wheelchair.

"Excuse me, Mega Man." a nurse approached them. "There's a robot here who would like to see Dr. Light, and I wanted to get your approval first. He says his name is Break Man."

"Who?" Bass sneered.

But Rock's face immediately brightened, and he instantly answered. "Oh, yes! Please send him up!"

As Mega Man asked another nurse to get her staff ready so that Dr. Light could leave soon, the first returned from an elevator, pointing a robot that Bass didn't recognise in their direction. The robot looked half Japanese and half English, with red armor and longish brown hair, every bit as wavy as Mega Man's. The stranger had rather delicate and yet sharp features, and his moody expression didn't fit well with his large, very innocent and unassuming hazel eyes. Overall he had the appearance of an uncertain fifteen-year-old.

Seeing Bass staring at him, the other robot winced, looking nervously to the side. "I'm still a fugitive, Bass. I couldn't exactly come in here with my helmet and scarf."

The dark robot started, surprised, and looking for a moment that he almost approved of Blues. But then he just laughed.

"Ha, you look like a bigger dweeb than Rock."

"Says the guy with fins on his helmet."

"I'm aerodynamic. What's your excuse?"

Proto Man was liking this less and less. Not that Bass bothered him much, as he knew how that robot was, but simply being in public without his helmet made him nervous. He felt almost naked. And he did have a very "cute" appearance, which he didn't like in the least. Apparently his nervous mood made him even cuter, as a large number of people in the hospital kept calling him "sweetheart". He promised himself he'd get his helmet back on as soon as possible when this was over.

He was actually a bit surprised that Mega Man recognised him without his helmet, even though they did share some facial features. "Pro - um, Break Man, I'm so glad you came!"

Proto Man smiled a bit awkwardly. He always liked it when his brother was happy, and Mega certainly looked grateful to see his brother.

"Um, before anything, I want to speak with Dr. Light."

Rock nodded. "Of course! He's over here."

Going to the room, Proto Man entered alone, coming face to face with his creator for the first time in years. Roll immediately brightened to see him, saying "thank you" with her eyes. But she too left the loner robot, leaving him there with his creator. Now that he standing before his father, words left him. Since this trip wasn't something Proto Man hadn't anticipated, he realized he didn't know what he could say. And Dr. Light looked more terrible than Proto Man had ever seen him before, and it shocked him how painful it was. He was more frightened than he had been in years, though he did a marvelous job of not showing it.

"Hello, Father."

"Blues...I'm so happy to see you." Tears welled up in the doctor's eyes. "Please come sit down."

It was a little shocking to Proto Man to see how eager his creator was to see him. And he had gone that far, so he might as well listen. Proto Man sat there stiffly, not sure what was expected of him. Dr. Light reached out a weak hand, and Blues took it, scared that he might hurt his dad's fragile fingers. There was silence, but Dr. Light knew what he had to do.

"Please listen," Dr. Light began. "There's something I should have you for a very long time now. That is, I'm so sorry...everything about your creation should have been different. I can't make any excuses, but I will say that in those days I didn't have a lot of authority over my own work. My government funding...ah, you won't want to hear about that. There's...been a lot of misunderstanding between us, and all I can ask is that you please forgive me for my part in it."

Thoughts and memories came to Proto Man, all of them rushing at once to be seen and heard. Most of them were thoughts about his own creation and running away, but also seeing interactions between Rock and Dr. Light on the news or hearing transmissions between the two. Dr. Light had always had a better relationship with his second son. Then the one solitary conversation about his power core error came to mind. His own actions came to mind, and at once he saw a hypocrisy that he had to confess. Once all of these memories quickly played themselves out, Proto Man knew where he had erred. He knew what to say.

Proto Man steeled himself, then spoke.

"Only...only if you can forgive me as well. I should...I should have...I spent all this time running away...when I should have been understanding. I always tried to be understanding of others and to only think the truth of everyone...but I never did that for you. I was afraid..." Proto Man immediately stopped. He didn't want to admit all the horrible things he had thought about his creator. He couldn't. Instead he bowed his head. "I'm sorry..."

"I'm sorry too...I love you, son, just as you are."

Proto Man couldn't admit this outloud, but he knew that he had always wanted his creator to say it. He smiled a genuine smile, almost glitching.

"Thank you..."

-t-

Outside the door, Bass grumpily leaned against the wall as Mega Man and Roll talked.

"I can't believe it!" Roll exclaimed happily. "Bass, what did you say to him to get him to come?"

The dark robot shrugged. "I have no idea. When I left he was dead set against it."

"He was always like that." Mega Man said sadly. "I once tried to talk to him about it, but he...well, he didn't take it so well. Erm, Roll, are you okay? You seem a little distracted."

"Oh, yes." Roll said, frowning a bit. "It's just that I think I glitched or something earlier today...according to my internal timer, there was a period of about fifteen minutes where I wasn't activated. I keep trying to figure out what happened, but I just don't know."

"Was that before or after Crystal Bot found Bruce broken?" Mega Man asked with concern. "You should have mentioned this earlier."

"Dr. Light seemed no different after it happened, so I think it was just a glitch on my part." Roll added. "I haven't had a defrag in a while, you know. I should really talk to Auto."

At that point the door opened, and Proto Man seemed even cuter than before, and even sadder.

"Hey you guys," he said painfully. "Let's get Dr. Light back now...I don't think we have a lot of time."

-t-

Back at Light Laboratories, Auto and Crystal Bot were going over Dr. Cain's computer viruses, as well as setting up automated machines for their respective heros. Those heros had come back from the hospital some time ago, but neither Mega Man or Bass had seemed eager about getting fixed, even though the blue bomber's buster arm was jammed, and Bass was still limping. Auto gasped to see the long missing brother there, especially helmetless, but as Blues was just as distracted as the others, Auto decided he would try and talk to him later. Now Mega Man, Proto Man, Bass, and Roll were all in the lowest level of the lab with Dr. Light. It was almost midnight, and none of the four robots had been seen in at least two hours.

"I hope...I really hope Blues lets us fix him!" Auto exclaimed.

"He won't." Crystal Bot pouted and scowled. "He's a emo whiny-butt and I don't like him."

"Don't say that. After all, he's here now isn't he? Maybe he'll change his mind."

Crystal Bot looked down at the floor a moment. "Maybe...I hope so. Hey Auto, why do you guys work with these open automated machines? The enclosed ones Wily had were better."

"That's because Dr. Light was more concerned with quality." Auto proudly held his fist over his "heart", proud of his creator. "He likes to work on all of his machines himself. It's the personal touch that makes his robots better!"

The girl-bot giggled. "You're a nerdy."

"More nerdy than you?" Auto accused teasingly.

And she had to giggle again at that. Looking once more at the automated machine, she noted that it was ready to go, and started pulling out the box that held Bruce's pieces.

"Wow, that looks tricky." Auto commented, looking over her shoulder.

"Nah, not so much." The shiny-bot looked up to see her boss speedily walking down the hall. "Oh hey, Forte-kun, if you're ready - "

"_Leave me alone._" he hissed as he hastily walked away.

Stunned, Crystal Bot looked up at Auto. She could see in his eyes first shock, then dimmness. Auto gazed down at her, and it wasn't until that moment that Crystal Bot understood.

Dr. Thomas Light was dead.

Crystal immediately went to follow Bass, and she found him as he entered Dr. Light's "library" again, where most of the doctor's blueprints and legal documentation were kept. The girl-bot never was sneaky, and as she opened the door, Bass noticed her immediately.

"Go away!" he snapped. He used anger to try and keep himself under control, but from his shaking it was obvious that the control wouldn't last long.

But Crystal Bot didn't leave, pausing for a moment to look at him with sadness. "Forte-kun, everybody knows that Dr. Light was your friend. You don't have to pretend that it doesn't hurt."

The dark robot's lips twitched, and for a moment it looked like he couldn't speak. Finally he answered with a gruff voice, "Erm, thanks. Now, just...just leave me alone for a while..."

"Okay." the girl-bot nodded.

Bass turned away, walking towards the back of the room, going around the desk to where the window was. Crystal Bot started to back away from the door and close it, but she didn't like seeing Bass so upset. It was scary that someone as strong as him could be that way. Treble had approached, however, and he whined a little bit.

"Oh, hey Trebby," the tech-bot beckoned to him. "You go in there with Forte-kun and keep him company, okay?"

The wolf nodded, and Crystal Bot closed the door behind him. But then Crystal realized that this left her alone, and for the first time in her life she felt afraid of the dark. A little mad at Bass for telling her to go away, she glitched and went back to the lab, turning on all the lights. But Auto was gone, and left with no other option, Crystal Bot hid under a table. The first of her three minds was the one in charge of her external senses, and also most of her emotions. So gearing up some data she wanted to study in her second and third minds, she shut down her first and entered sleep mode, setting an internal timer to wake herself up when it was day again.

Bass didn't feel like looking out of the window. Instead he pushed the chair behind the desk aside and sat there, where no one would see him if they opened the door. He drooped almost hopelessly down. He didn't know what to think or feel anymore. His whole motivation for the past few months was gone, and it surprised him how much it pained him to lose someone. This had never happened to him before. And Dr. Light had meant a lot to him, more than he thought anyone could. Bass didn't believe that robots truly had families, but all the same, Dr. Light had been like a father, though before he had really gotten to know the doctor Bass didn't have any clue what that meant.

Treble slowly poked his nose around the desk. Bass looked over at him and tried to smile a little. Treble wagged his tail, then carefully settled down next to his master, who lifted an arm and gently rubbed between his dog's ears.

"Hey Treble..." A bitter laugh escaped the dark robot's lips. "You remember when we met Light?"

It was the dumbest thing ever. Some years ago, he had been on a mission from Wily to get inside Dr. Light's lab, right after he had first been created. Remembering how he had purposely let Shade Man injure him so that he could be repaired, Bass cringed. He had tricked Mega Man into thinking he was an ally in need, and the clueless bomber had sent him directly to the labs. He reaccessed the memory.

**"I was careless..." the dark robot said painfully. **

**Mega Man looked very concerned as he saw Bass kneeling on the floor, his armor dented and his joints sparking dangerously. **

**"I feel so stupid to have been defeated so easily...maybe I should give up and leave Wily to you..."**

**"No!" Mega Man immediately objected. "We are a team! Dr. Light will be glad to fix you up."**

**"Thanks. I'm glad I have a friend like you..."**

Bass gagged thinking about saying that to Mega Man, wondering how in the world the bomber could have been fooled.

**"You must be Bass." Dr. Light cheerfully greeted him after he teleported to Light Laboratories. "How wonderful to meet you! I'm Doctor Thomas Light. What seems to be the problem?"**

**"I don't think it's too serious..." Bass answered. "Just some joint damage, and my power core doesn't feel right."**

**"Alright, get on this table here and I'll have a look." Dr. Light directed his new "friend" to one of the tables that went under an automated machine. "Hm...this looks fairly extensive...I'm afraid I'll have to shut you down for a time, but it doesn't look too bad."**

**"That's alright." The dark robot answered. "Will my dog be okay too?"**

**"Oh this fellow?" Dr. Light addressed the dog, who was cheerfully sniffing the doctor and barking peppily. "He's limping a bit, but if he's this active, I'm sure he'll be just fine. What's his name?"**

**"That's Treble."**

**"Treble? What a wonderful name." Dr. Light pet the wolf, who sat and wagged his tail. "Alright then, just let me get my tools together, and I'll have you both ship-shape in no time at all! You can go ahead and power down."**

**As the doctor turned away to get some things, the seemingly friendly Treble turned to his master and viciously grinned, showing his gleaming teeth. But before he shut down, Bass took a look at a large computer monitor on the far wall.**

**"Hey Doc, what's that on that monitor?"**

**"Oh, those are the new upgrades I built for Mega Man and Rush. They're something brand new I've only just completed. I'm rather proud of them."**

**Bass grinned. This mission was going to be a lot easier than he thought.**

The memory went dark for just a moment, representing when Bass had shut himself down. Bass remembered thinking that Dr. Light was an idiot for trusting him, and remembering that only made him cringe more. But nonetheless, he allowed his memory to continue to when he awoke.

**The first thing Bass saw when he woke was the ever happy face of Dr. Light. "And how are you feeling?"**

**"Better...in fact, a lot better! I think I work better now than when I was created." Bass wasn't lying. The doctor had done a great job working on him, and he was starting to think that Dr. Light might be a better scientist than Dr. Wily gave him credit for. "Oh hey, where's Treble?"**

**"Right down here." Dr. Light indicated the floor beside the table. "He was finished first and he's been waiting."**

**The doctor turned away to a computer for a moment as Bass got up from the table and gave his systems a quick check. The doctor hadn't shut down his weapons, and apparently he didn't notice that the robot he'd been working on didn't have the three laws installed. Bass wondered what sort of idiot wouldn't check first.**

**"Y'know Light, you're nice." Bass equipped his buster. "Way too nice. You never know if someday you'll get taken advantage of."**

**"Well, I like to think that -" Dr. Light stopped short as he turned around, getting a glimpse of Bass aiming his buster straight at him. His eyes widened in shock, and he backed away. "What? What are you doing?"**

**"Teaching you a lesson." Bass' fangs hung from his mouth in a violent grin. "Don't just trust any hunk of metal that says he's a friend."**

**The first shots barely missed Dr. Light as they hit his computer, causing it to explode with a flash of yellow sparks. Smoke poured out from the large crater left in the huge machine, and the doctor ran towards his emergency comm station, hoping to contact Mega Man. However, Treble had anticipated this. He jumped in front of Dr. Light, growling and hissing with vicious intent.**

**"Alright, got the upgrades...y'know Treb, I think this place could use some redecoration. Let's fix it up for the good doctor here. After all, he **_**did**_** help us out."**

**Treble barked, only too happy to follow those orders. Immediately he clawed the emergency comm station, and Bass went to work on the rest of the computer stations lined up along the walls. Dr. Light tried to make a run for it, only to have a purple buster shot fly upwards and bring some of the ceiling down on him, knocking him out.**

Bass immediately stopped watching the memory. "Ugh...that memory sucks. You know...Treble...I bet we could have just asked him for the upgrades and he would've given them to us without a second thought."

Treble whined, agreeing. He leaned his chin on Bass' leg, just as depressed as his master.

"Dr. Light didn't deserve what we did to him...even after that...what we did..." Bass continued, his voice beginning to crack. "Treble...we...we should have stayed with him then. We should have forgotten about Wily and just joined the Lights...things would've been better that way...it's just not fair." The dark robot's voice weakened even further. "There were only a few months...that's how long...it's not fair...if that computer mind storage doesn't work I don't know what I'll do..."

Unable to hold himself together anymore, Bass started glitching. This was too much for him to take. But for now he was alone, and no matter what Crystal Bot said, he was glad to be alone. He didn't want anyone to see him this emotional. So for the time being he would glitch as long as he wanted.

For his father's sake.

-t-

Proto Man had an easier time avoiding others. Creeping silently to the third floor, he went up to the lounge and opened the glass doors to the balcony. That was where his helmet and scarf were hidden, and he was eager to get them back on. But he paused a moment, looking back into the dark interior of the lab. He sighed.

It was never his intent to be there for Dr. Light's death, but in the end he had remained. After being gone so long, how could he leave his creator's side? It mystified him that he was able to stay. But now Dr. Light was gone. There was no reason be in the lab anymore, and the thing he wanted most at that moment was to be gone.

Proto Man gazed up at the stars, losing himself for a moment in his sadness. There was more than one reason he had stayed away all of his life. He was weak, and he knew it: far too weak to face the loss of someone. Having a long distance between himself and everyone else wasn't a merely physical thing either; he kept his emotions distant as well, and was now dealing with the consequences of that choice. Proto Man couldn't glitch. He wasn't able to express his pain. Instead it hid inside himself, left there with his other wounds as a new and more bitter hurt than anything he had previously known. And it didn't go away for the wishing.

The red and grey robot sighed, accessing a memory.

**The robot jumped up with a start, wondering where he was. He stared at the surroundings with a mixture of fear and wonder: it was a giant computer lab, filled from floor to ceiling with massive computers with large monitors and multifarious switches and buttons. Caught up in the sight of it all, it took the robot a moment to see that he was strapped to some sort of table, and long mechanical arms were in the ceiling above him. **

**"Hello! Is anyone out there?"**

**No one answered. **

**Accessing his memory core, the robot discovered his identity - "Proto Man: Blues."**

**"Hello? Can someone come get me off of this table?"**

**Again, there was no one.**

**Wondering why he was there by himself, Proto Man tried to pull against his bindings. They were tight metal clasps, and as much as he strugged he wasn't sure he could get them off. But he noticed that the one on his right hand wasn't completely in place. Proto Man carefully twisted his fingers around, trying to get it to withdraw. Once he succeeded with that, it only took a moment for him to reach over and press the appropriate button.**

**Once free, the red and grey robot was completely clueless of what to do next. A little too scared to try and figure out what the computers were meant for, Proto Man decided to leave the lab. He didn't like it. Reaching for and opening the door, he wandered down the long and dark halls, calling out for someone. But no one answered. Eventually Proto Man gave it up.**

**Finding a window, the curious robot peered outside, where he could see stars shining brightly above a rolling surburbia. He decided that since it was nighttime maybe no one was there, or maybe they were all asleep. It sure looked like no one was awake out there. But once Proto Man started gazing out of the window, he began to hear a voice, and it didn't sound like a nice one.**

**Turning left and going further down the hall, the robot shyly crept over to the one door that light came out from under. **

**"Yes...yes, I know where my funding comes from!" a first voice began, sounding old and a little cracked. "That doesn't give you the right to order such things!"**

**"I agree with the doctor." a second voice chimed in, this one more calm and dignified. "Without his AI Proto Man is no more useful to us than any other weapon. We don't need more 'Sniper Joes', Mr. Briggs."**

**They were talking about him? Proto Man nervously stepped back, wondering if he would get in trouble if he kept listening. But curiousity got the best of him, and he noticed that the door hadn't been closed completely. He reached out and gently pushed it further open, allowing him a little more view of the speakers. Inside he saw a man, someone who had tired eyes and hair that was almost completely white, from his bushy locks all the way down to his beard. Whoever he was, he was rubbing his eyes, sitting at a large table covered in blueprints and data, the end of which extended beyond where Proto Man could see. Presummably that was where the other people were as well.**

**"All the same," a gruff voice that Blues guessed to be Mr. Briggs said. "It's been weeks already, and you still haven't given us any decent demonstration of this new AI you keep going on about."**

**"His power core isn't ready-" the older man that Proto Man could see spoke up next, so the robot guessed that this person was the doctor.**

**"Yes, yes, I know, you tell us all the time." Briggs went on. "I want to see this Proto Man. If he's going to be the new fighter unit in our army I want to know that he's up for the job."**

**"I didn't build him for violence!" the doctor protested. "There's a very large difference between peacekeeping missions and all out war. I absolutely refuse to allow my experiment to be a war machine! He is meant to help humanity, not destroy it!"**

**"Please calm down, doctor. We know how you feel." The voice that wasn't Briggs or the doctor spoke up next. "I think the thought of Proto Man's involvement with the military may be a bit premature, but I too wish to see a demonstration. Even if his power core isn't completely right, you can always fix that later."**

**"Mr. Davis, Blues is more than a machine." the doctor said with a clear voice. "He has feelings, to some extent, and he has an understanding of the things around him. I do not wish him to wake and realize how incomplete he is. It would only hurt him."**

**"This is not just your project, Dr. Light." Mr. Davis sternly contradicted. "Not only is the government - and our taxpayers, mind you - paying your wages, but if this thing is supposed to protect the world, then you alone don't get to decide what happens to him. Now take us to this Proto Man and activate him."**

**Proto Man backed away from the door. He wasn't supposed to be activated yet? Worried he would get in trouble, Blues briefly considered going back to his room. But that idea was quickly discarded. Of all things, he did not want to get back onto the table. But there was no other way he could trick the men into thinking he hadn't heard their conversation, so he just pushed open the door and entered.**

**All three men stared at him in shock. One of the men the robot hadn't been able to see before had jet black hair and a very neatly trimmed goatee, and the other was a dark tanned man, with closely cut brown hair and a clean shaven face.**

**"Good evening." Proto Man said only politely. "My name is Blues, the prototype sentient robot created by Dr. Thomas Light. How can I help you?"**

**The goateed man laughed, revealing himself as Mr. Briggs. "Wow, that's a good trick, Light. So you've got some sort of remote control on this guy, right?"**

**"Erm, no I don't..." **

**Proto Man looked at the older man curiously. So this was his creator? The robot was a little worried.**

**"Dr. Light?" Blues asked nervously. "You're...you're not making me leave with these men, are you?"**

**"No." Dr. Light confirmed, standing from his chair and facing the other humans. "Absolutely not. Now I'm afraid it's getting late, gentlemen, so why don't you come back some other time."**

**Davis stood up as well, walking over to Dr. Light with irritation. Blues didn't like the look, so he determinedly stepped between Davis and the doctor, causing Briggs to laugh with amusement.**

**"I like this guy." Briggs mentioned, still grinning. "Maybe you guys were right; he's sure got gumption."**

**Davis rolled his eyes, then focused directly at the doctor. "Dr. Light, you can't keep him forever. Simply put, he's not your property. Let's go, Harry."**

**Proto Man didn't like being treated like that. He turned to his creator, hoping the doctor would say something to defend his creation before the two men left. But there was nothing. Blues could see the fear in Dr. Light's eyes as he watched the federal agents go; there wasn't much of it, but it was there. Proto Man was disappointed.**

**But before the agents had gone, Blues noticed that his vision was going, and it was difficult to move. He tried his hardest, but despite his efforts, something big was coming towards him, and it hit him in the face. It took him a moment to realize that this was the floor. **

**"I told you he's not ready!" Dr. Light insisted from somewhere out of Proto Man's sight.**

**"Don't put me on the table...I don't want to be strapped down again...please..." Proto Man barely managed to say in a whisper. "Please..."**

**Everything went black. When his vision returned, the next time he was activated, Proto Man realized that he was back in the same room, strapped to that stupid table. Only this time Dr. Light was there, and he smiled at Blues. But Blues did not smile back.**

Proto Man remembered that time with a solemn face. He had been so immature then. But he did find out later on why he had activated when no one was there: apparently there was a power surge, and this automatically jump-started his system. That glitch was repaired. And unfortunately, that was not the last he saw of Harry Briggs and Renold Davis. Briggs was at the lab often, and it seemed like everything Proto Man ever did amused him. Briggs would always watch him practice his buster shots, saying he was almost as good as a human. It annoyed Blues to no end to have to put up with how Briggs always treated him like a child, always laughing at him and acting as if he wasn't intelligent enough to understand anything a twelve year old couldn't.

But Davis was worse. He didn't seem to acknowledge Proto Man's personhood at all. Almost never did he speak to Blues other than to give him an order, most of which the robot would refuse to obey unless Dr. Light confirmed it (which happened far more often than Proto Man approved of). Proto Man's only way of rebelling was to whistle his favorite tunes whenever Davis was nearby. This too amused Briggs to no end.

**"He's a rebellious one, Blues is." Briggs said. "Not even a teenager yet."**

At this memory, Proto Man stopped. That quote had taken place on the very last day of his stay with Dr. Light, those many years ago. He hadn't thought about that day in a long time, but for some reason he went on, dryly wondering to himself if this made him a masochist.

**Proto Man was not happy. He had spent the whole day being tested by Davis, and he was tired of it. He didn't like the agent, as for the umpteenth time the agent had refused to let him go outside, as a "danger to society". Even after offering to have his buster deactivated, Proto Man's request was still refused. But Dr. Light was nicer, and Blues decided he was going to convince his creator to let him out, though on the inside he didn't think it was possible. The agents always got what they wanted. He had never been allowed outside the lab before, so why today? But Proto Man had nothing better to do, so he tried to whistle away his boredom as he walked down the corridors. He wished for the millionth time that he had another robot to be friends with.**

**As Proto Man neared his creator's office, he heard a phone call. He thought that might be interesting, so instead of knocking on the door, he decided to hack into the phone line and hear the call for himself.**

**Dr. Light answered. "Hello?"**

**"Hello yourself, Thomas. How've you been?"**

**"Dr. Albert Wily! It's been too long, good friend! You have no clue how relieved I am to hear your voice."**

**Proto Man wasn't sure he liked the doctor on the other end of the line. His laugh sounded...crazy. "You're the one with the government grants for your work, and you're complaining to me about things? I think I can outdo you in **_**that **_**respect at least."**

**"It's just that my robot...I don't like how the government is treating him...he's not simply a possession, he's a person!"**

**Blues had heard his creator's comments in his support, but they only made him bitter. If some of those words actually meant Dr. Light would stand up for him to the federal agents, then things might have been different.**

**"Eh, still going on about that sentient AI thing? Don't you have some sort of confidentiality agreement going on?"**

**"Well yes, but if another scientist is working on my project, I think he should have a right to know."**

**"Oh, something you want to tell me?"**

**"Yes. I want you to come join me and help me work on Proto Man. I've think I finally have a way to fix his power core once and for all, but it's really a job for more than one mind. You were the only one who understood anything about robotics, and I think it would be tantamount to a crime to exclude you. Please Albert, these feds about to drive me out of my mind with their ignorant questioning, and I need an intellectual equal here before I lose it completely. Oh! I'm sorry, that is if you can be spared from your own work."**

The side of Proto Man's mouth went up as he remembered that part. He had later learned that Wily's projects were all financial failures, and he was unable to get funding to continue.

**"Hm...you know what? I think I can do that."**

**"Really?"**

**"Definitely. I have some contractual obligations to a few companies though, so I can't just pack up and leave right away."**

**Blues thought about this. Another doctor? Was he going to have to listen to this one as well? He was liking this conversation less and less.**

**"Whenever you can. This project is really turning out to be more than I had planned. Poor Proto Man...everything about his activation has gone wrong. I thought I would have a little time to explain more things about life to him before these ridiculous government people showed up. He's not doing well, and nothing I say to them will get them to understand. Anyone with sense can see that Proto Man is unhappy! I made a mistake...I never should have made him a fighter..."**

**"Don't be ridiculous. That's how you got your funding."**

**"There's more than one use for a robot, Albert." Dr. Light sighed deeply. "But now it's starting to look like Proto Man is a failure...if I could have done everything different Blues would have understood the reason he was created...but now it looks like he'll have to be reprogrammed."**

**Proto Man backed away. He didn't want to listen anymore, and he started running. Before he knew it, he was in a back room of the lab, somewhere he had never gone before. The place was filled with machines he didn't understand, but he didn't care to investigate them. Instead he dropped to his knees, huddling and glitching on the floor. He was a failure to his father.**

**"YOU'RE A FAILURE TO ME TOO!" Proto Man shouted at the top of his lungs. "YOU'RE THE ONE THAT SHOULD BE REPROGRAMMED!"**

**His voice echoed in the large room, and Blues settled down, ashamed. He knew it was wrong to feel that way about his creator, but wasn't it just as wrong for Dr. Light? Turning to his left he noticed that several humanoid mechaniloids, none of them bothered by the noisy intruder, were all weaving and sewing some sort of long, colorful materials. He knew what it was. The doctor was working on his new poly-aluminoid fibers, an experiment in creating cloth out of demi-metal fibers that would be stronger than normal clothing and yet still feel normal. Blues bitterly thought that this project was working out for Light Laboratories a lot better than he was. **

**He noticed that one thin mechaniloid was compiling several colorful sample cloths from the other non-thinking robots, and Blues looked down at his own colors: brick red and dull grey. Frowning with hatred at his boring design, he snatched a bright, golden yellow scarf from the mechaniloid, who didn't seem to notice. And as he wrapped it around his neck, Blues decided that he was going to run away. He didn't want to stay with someone who wouldn't defend him or wanted to reprogram him. He was going to live without rules and do what he liked as far away from the lab as he could. He was going to explore the whole world.**

**But as Blues walked back to his room, trying to look normal as he went to go get his shield and helmet, a thought occured to him. Dr. Light was his family, and in fact the only family he had. Despite himself, he felt guilty for wanting to leave Dr. Light. But he pushed that feeling aside, thinking that maybe Dr. Light had programmed him to feel that way just so his prize robot would do what he said. Then the thought of his troublesome power core came to mind. He knew it didn't work right, and he was risking a lot by leaving the only person that could fix him.**

_**I don't care! I'm never going to let anyone hurt me like this again...**_

Proto Man couldn't go along any further. He stopped the data stream where it was.

_...That memory...really sucks..._

He went over to the edge of the balcony, retrieving his helmet and scarf. As much as that memory pained him, the knowledge of what Dr. Light had done next hurt worse. That poly-aluminoid fiber had become a complete success, and it paid for a lot of Dr. Light's further efforts into robotics, freeing him from most of his federal funding, and his only grants became ones from scientific corporations. Not only that, but because his next robots weren't designed for combat, the federals had a lot less legal reasoning to be involved. Proto Man knew that if he had stayed, he would have been freed. He had never told anyone, but for several years he had been bitterly jealous of his younger brother, especially when he became the blue bomber.

But at the same time, he hadn't regretted leaving. He had always known Dr. Light cared about him, and over the years he had started believing that the only reason Dr. Light had managed to stand up to the feds for the combat-enabled Mega Man was what he had learned from the pain of losing his first creation.

Proto Man sighed. He had told himself that only to excuse himself from his actions. Tonight he learned how much he had hurt his father by leaving. He fingered his scarf, still strong and untorn after all his adventures (though still streaked with ash from Dr. Cain's lab explosion). He had stolen it in his immature rebellion, but there were times when he thought it might be better to get rid of it.

He never would though. It was from his father.

Sighing again, he replaced the scarf on his neck, and pulled his helmet down over his head, once again returning to the comfort of anonymity. Seeing Dr. Light again had been the right thing to do. He had let himself believe too many lies just for the sake of letting himself abandon his family. He learned that when he had heard that fateful conversation the day he ran away, Dr. Light had simply meant he'd be turned into a lab-bot instead of a fighter-bot, and his personality AI would have remained the same.

**"You're a person, Blues. I couldn't change who you are any more than I could change another human."**

To finally understand his creator and then lose him was too much for Proto Man to bear. But the normal grieving of robots, glitching, was impossible. He was skilled at hiding his emotions, too skilled. The pain stuck within him, joining his other miseries that he knew would remain there for the rest of his existence. But thankfully, that would not be a long time. In a month's time he would be gone, dead from his malfunctioning power core, and the pain with him.

As Proto Man went to shut the door to the balcony before he left, he noticed that there was someone inside the lounge. Instead of shutting the door, he silently walked into the shadows of the darkened room and watched. There, sitting alone on a couch, was Roll. She was crying. It wasn't merely the normal glitching of a robot, but almost real, human crying, though without tears.

His sister. Proto Man watched her, a deep sadness coming over him. The poor girl-bot had been closer to Dr. Light than anyone else. He turned away to leave, until he remembered Bass' accusation, and he knew that if he left now, it would only mean that Bass had had a point when he called him selfish. But Proto Man didn't know what to do. His social skills were lacking at best. All the same, he knew leaving would be wrong.

Uncertainly, Proto Man walked over to the couch, sitting down next to Roll. He reached for her hand.

"Roll...I'm here..."

The miserable girl looked at him, and even through her grief Blues could see that she was grateful. Throwing her arms around his neck, she started crying full force, and Proto Man held her, if a bit awkwardly. But he didn't mind. He would be there for her as long as she needed.

-t-

The computers were humming, and everything seemed to be going right. Mega Man and Auto quickly flipped switches and pushed buttons. But finally the proper lights were flashing, and the a cheery noise sounded from a speaker.

"It's done." Auto said with confidence. "Dr. Light's mind is safe now."

"Then it's just thirty more years..." the blue bomber smiled back. "And then we'll see him again!"

"I think Roll took it pretty hard." Auto mentioned. "And Bass too. But they know about this."

As the two of them left the second chamber of the secret lab, Mega Man answered, "It won't be the same though...having him here was wonderful, especially working with him. It'll be a different existence as a hologram. Imagine being stuck in a holographic projector like that...it's almost like being in the robot museum. But don't tell Bass I said that." he added quickly.

Auto nodded, himself sighing. "I think we all expected him to live forever. I wish there was some way he could have been made into a robot. That would have solved a lot."

The tech-bot walked forward a bit before noticing that Mega Man wasn't walking beside him anymore. Turning back, he saw the blue bomber looking happily down at his youngest brother, Mega Man X.

"Look at him, Auto." Rock happily said. "Right now he's meeting Dr. Light for the first time. He'll be learning about the world and ethics...I can't wait to meet him!"

"I'm going to call to make arrangements for the burial." Auto mentioned. "Are you coming?"

"No," Mega Man answered. "I think I'll stay here for a while."

And as Auto left, Mega Man slumped, thankful that Auto was taking care of most of the funeral concerns. He couldn't bear to see the once lively and brilliant Dr. Light as nothing more than a body. Yet even so, it was hard for him to grieve for his creator, as he felt like he'd been grieving for the past half year already. Faintly he smiled, thinking of the very first time he had met Dr. Light.

**His eyes opened. **

**The lab was bright, and a huge window to the left revealed the rolling green suburbs on the edge of Monstropolis. On the far wall head there were computers, and to the right was the door. The robot was held by leather straps to a table, which was angled at about 45 degrees. **

**"Hello?"**

**"Hello there." A gentle voice spoke as a man with white hair and a long white beard walked up from behind the table. "Do you know who I am?"**

**The robot smiled. "Yeah! You're my creator, Dr. Light!"**

**The doctor reached over and started pulling the straps off of his creation's limbs. "Good. Now tell me about yourself."**

**"I'm Rock!" the robot answered joyfully. "And I'm your lab assistant!"**

**"Very good, Rock." The straps were undone, and Rock stood to his feet in front of his creator. "Now come with me. I want to show you something."**

**When Rock had been strapped to the table, he had been facing away from the rest of the lab, so he hadn't been able to see the seven other tables, all at a flat angle facing the ceiling. On each of them were several different robots, in various stages of completion. Dr. Light walked his creation by all of them and told him their names.**

**"This is Elec Man, and here we have Cut Man, who will be our gardener. Then there is Bomb Man and this large fellow next to him is Guts Man. They're going to work together in a mine a few miles away from here. And we also have Ice Man, and Fire Man. Last, and absolutely not least, we have here one more..."**

**The scientist directed his blue creation towards the last table which held a blonde girl in a red dress. Rock noticed that she seemed to be closer to completion than the others.**

**"Now Rock, tell me about this robot."**

**"This is Roll and she's my sister!" he exclaimed. "She's gonna clean the house and be my friend!"**

**"Very good." The doctor smiled approvingly. "Now tell me what you're going to be doing."**

**"I'm going to be helping you finish all of these robots and help you with your experiments."**

**"Good! Now let me show you how to use these computers..."**

**Dr. Light showed him the functions of the AI development program, and he could tell that Rock was enjoying this. He couldn't stop smiling at this creation, and his robot was happy to be there and work on all of his companions. But when the perspective of the memory went back to Dr. Light, Mega Man could see that somehow Dr. Light looked a little sad. **

**"Are you okay, Doctor? Your eyes are leaking a little."**

**"Oh...I'm fine, Rock." The doctor tried to pretend he hadn't been tearing up. "That reminds me...there's something I want you to do when the others are ready to be activated."**

**"Okay. What is it?"**

**"I want you to make them feel welcome, and be their friend. Let this be a happy home."**

**"I'll do my best!"**

Mega Man thought that the memory would cheer him up, but instead it only depressed him further. He leaned against Mega Man X's capsule and glitched, sobbing. But he fought his sadness with the thought of X. Once his ethics testing was complete, Mega Man X would be activated, and they would have to give him a nice welcome. He was part of the family, after all.

Rock put his hand over the capsule, as if waving hi. "See you soon, little brother."

-t-

As the first beams of light shone in through the window of the lab, Crystal Bot awoke from sleep mode. Blinking her eyes and staring out from under the table, she noted with relief that the large empty lab did seem a bit less scary in the morning. Hearing a low snort, she looked down to see Treble resting beside her, nuzzling her side with his nose.

"Heehee, I'm up, Trebby. Aw, you're such a good doggie." Crystal petted him. "The best ever."

After she spoke, Bass appeared, getting down on his knees to get where his tech-bot could see him. The girl-bot noticed that her boss looked at lot more solemn, but no longer upset but instead very serious. Crystal Bot was glad, because Bass being sad frightened her. She could also see that he was in better condition; he must have used the automated machine she had set up for him.

"We're going to be staying here a while." Bass spoke in a strange, calm tone. "There's a lot that needs to be done with the funeral and everything. Are you going to be able to handle that?"

The girl-bot nodded, hugging Treble a little tighter. "Yeah, I'll be okay."

"Good." Bass' more serious tone faltered slightly as he saw her sadness. "Hey, I made a bunch of calls already. Jewel Man's on his way over."

Crystal Bot smiled appreciatively. She knew her boss could barely stand Jewel Man. "Thanks. Yay, _Obba_ is coming!"

"Guh," the dark robot cringed. "You know you're using the wrong word there, right?"

"What?"

"_Oppa _means 'brother'. _Ahbohjee_ is 'father'. Stop trying to learn korean from those stupid kdramas and just download the language already."

Crystal Bot wrinkled her nose. "Aw, how long were you gonna let me keep saying it like that?"

"I thought you'd figure it out for yourself. Guess I was wrong. Now get out from under there." Bass ordered. "You're not a six year old."

"Yeah, I've only been around for three and a half."

"Ugh, you know what I meant." Bass rolled his eyes.

\\\\\\\\

Author's notes:

- Um...yep...I meant to make Crystal Bot do that error on purpose...hee hee...I totally knew that _Oppa_ was brother and not father...lol, ha ha...yeah... Anyway, I promise the rest of the korean in the chapter is right...that I learned straight from Koreans and my dictionary, not kdramas... *blushes*

- Come on, only Queen Sunstar guessed the significance of Epic Man and Demi? Lol. I didn't think it was that hard. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to enjoy y'all being surprised when I finally do reveal it. And no, Sunstar, you're not quite right, but thanks for trying!

- In Proto Man's flashback, Wily was calling Dr. Light so he could borrow money. He's such a mooch. :D

- Yes, all of the robots that have normal faces have the facial features of one ethnicity or another. Naturally, robots like Needle Man or Guts Man don't, as they don't really have enough face for that. Mega Man, Proto Man, and Roll are all mixed between northern European and Japanese. Bass, on the other hand, is Austrian. At the time of his creation Wily wanted a younger version of himself, and as he is Austrian and Swedish, that's how Bass ended up. Notedly, Bass is a lot better looking than Wily, as the mad scientist thinks he was handsome when he was young.

While Crystal Bot was based more or less on Roll when Crystal Man designed her (given as Crystal Man wasn't that artistically creative), Wily made her look more adult when he upgraded her, so now she appears to be just a white mutt. As for his other robots that have faces, like Top Man, they are all white mutts as well, except for Zero who is an even more idealistic Austrian, and much less Wily.

- _Sarang-heh_ literally means "love", and in this context means "I love you" informally. Notedly, some people don't pronounce the first h, so if you say _sarang-eh_ you'll still be understood. _Harabohjee_ means "grandfather", and it can be used to refer to any elderly person, not just your own grandpa. Crystal Bot, however, does feel that Dr. Light sort of is her grandfather, so she means it that way. _Na-nun Sonata-do sarang-hehyo _means literally "I love Sonata too", as korean is one of those languages that sometimes says a person's name instead of "you". _Na_ is the informal word for "I", _nun_ being a topic particle you add to the subject of a sentence. -_Do_ is a word you attach to nouns, and it means "too". -_Yo_ is the verb ending you use when you want to be polite. Lol, I'm not writing a story, I'm just trying to practice my korean :D

====Dr. Thomas Light.

The world's number one authority on robotics.

**"Hurry and rescue them, Megaman!"**

Good point: Good faith

Bad point: Douchie

Like: Internet

Dislike: Violence

Japanese CD data:

Bad point: Naive

Like: Internet

Dislike: Violence

Yeah...no clue what they're trying to say with that bad point there...did the translators do that on purpose? I think I'll just ignore it. Okay, I'm gonna write Light's history, but before I do I want to point out that this is what I see in my head, not necessarily what Capcom may have in mind. Though I don't think they ever explained his origins, so it may not matter so much.

Dr. Thomas Light was born in Atlanta, Georgia as the only child of Phillip and Mary Light, a wealthy couple who own several hotels and golf courses in the southern city. Phil was a bit strict with his son, though not unkind, and from an early age made sure that his boy was responsible for cleaning up his room. Mary was very loving, and always taught her boy manners and stories of wisdom. They lived on the edge of the city, giving young Tom the ability to explore the nearby woods and learn about nature. However, his life was impacted mostly by the junkyard he stumbed upon one day, and he took to bringing things home to clean up and fix, getting him started in engineering.

Having always done well in school, Dr. Light was easily accepted to Monstropolis University when it came time for college, and he opted to pay for college out of his own money rather than accept a scholarship. This turned out to be fateful for him, as instead that scholarship went to someone else: Albert Wily. Light and Wily were taking most of the same classes, and they met very early on in their college years. Light was very thankful for this friendship, as no one else seemed to have any clue what he was talking about, even his very supportive parents. The two were often the bane of their teachers, and in their advanced mechanics class they ended up teaching it themselves because their teacher was sick of being corrected by them. Only when they both graduated and Tom was declared valedictorian did he notice Albert was jealous of him.

Light was always interested in Asian cultures, and for a time he studied their languages. Chinese he gave up on quickly (as it's pretty much the most difficult language on earth), and after trying korean for a while, he found his favorite one: japanese. This happened his final year of getting his doctorate, and it had more to do with a pretty Japanese girl than Dr. Light would have admitted at the time: Azuma Ayumu, a transfer student from Okinawa who was a sophmore. Previous to this, Tom had always had more interest in science than dating, but Ayumu was cute, polite, determined and clever, and he couldn't help but notice her. However, it took some nerve for the nerdy Light to ask her out, and in the end Albert and some other friends ended up having to trick them into their first date. The others claimed they were having a group study session, but then didn't show up, leaving Tom and Ayumu alone in the library together. However, their relationship still wasn't that serious at the time, much to the disappointment of their friends.

After his graduation, Tom stayed on at Monstropolis university to teach while Albert left and persued projects of his own. However, in his second year of teaching, tragedy struck. He noticed that Ayumu, now a senior, was putting less and less effort into her schoolwork. After a week of trying to get her to tell him what the trouble is, she admitted that she just found out that she had stage four cancer, and she's going back to Japan to be with her parents and siblings. As Ayumu tearfully tells him her regrets, Tom decided to marry her, and a few days later he asked and she accepted. After getting married in Monstropolis (with you know who as the best man), the two moved to Okinawa and spent a year and a half together before Ayumu died, happy and surrounded by those that love her. Dr. Light never married or dated again.

After spending another year trying to figure out what to do with himself, Dr. Light returned to engineering and started building mechaniloids, eventually earning the noble prize for his efforts. But the project he always had in mind was sentient machines, and Proto Man was one of his earliest projects, named "Blues" because of Ayumu's favorite type of music. Dr. Light wanted his first creation to keep peace, as the doctor had always hated war. However, due to Blues' premature activation and constant incompletion, the robot couldn't cope with his loneliness. And when Proto Man ran away, Dr. Light knew that the robot wouldn't live long without his power core being fixed, regretfully giving him up as lost.

Wily rejoined Dr. Light at this point, and the two of them worked together to produce the first six robot masters; Rock and Roll, whose minds were far more complex than those of the others, were primarily Dr. Light's work. These complexities caused the robots to act and think more like humans, but Wily only cared about intelligence for his own aims and didn't want to deal with human-like beings. That and he always found them annoying and weak. And you know how the story goes from there.

Dr. Light, especially in his final years, had a fear of losing his memories and knowledge to old age, so he was constantly strengthening his mind with projects and puzzles, which is why he was never senile, and why he remembered enough korean to answer Crystal Bot. Knowing that it would be hard for his robots to cope with his loss, and not wanting to let his vast learning be lost, he invented the mind storage machine, which he would use to teach his most powerful and intelligent robot, X, so that robot society would be able to integrate with humanity for the future.

- You might find this comforting to know (I sure did): the human mind, all other factors aside, is capable of existing, learning, and remembering for three million years. Senility only comes from not exercising your brain, and as you grow older, you should only be able to learn more and more.


	12. The Fate of Robotkind

The robots stood on the broad hillside for Dr. Light's public memorial service. The private funeral had already been held, and Dr. Light had already been buried at the little Catholic church he had always attended, but this event was specifically for all the many people that admired and befriended Dr. Light over the years, and those that felt they would be missing out by not attending.

The funeral held earlier that week had been small, as Dr. Light had requested, but now all the people not close enough to attend the first event were able to come. Several college students that had been to his classes came, as well as government officials and many scientists that had not only benefitted from his work in robotics, but the work he did to create machines capable of helping other scientists in their fields of study. The Cossacks were also there, sitting near the front.

So many people had come, that Monstropolis had to hold the service in the concert hall on the side of town, which had a large stage and one open side that enabled those in the distance to see. The seats, which were not nearly enough, were all up front inside in the building. The robots that were in attendance (and there were many), were all gathered in the outside area behind the arena seating, which they politely let the humans use. It wasn't as if they needed them anyway: they didn't get tired and they had zooming features to see with.

Mega Man, who was near the furthest away from the large open stage (he was planning on teleporting when it was his turn to say a few words), looked up at the sky. He liked the place, glad that they could have the service there. The stars were out, and the weather was perfectly clear. And for January, it was warm. But of course that was California, so it shouldn't have surprised him so much. He was doing relatively well, smiling at those that gave their condolences. Roll, who was next to him, was numb, but still struggling to stay more or less calm, and she planned on leaving directly after the service so that she wouldn't have to speak to anyone. She wasn't sure how long she would be able to hold it together, and she was already glitching occasionally.

Bass, on the other hand, was stonelike. He had done his glitching, and now it was all business. He was going to keep dignified in public no matter how he felt, though the temptation to punch a reporter in the face was sometimes only quelled by the three laws on his CPU. He glared at a couple of them occasionally, and eventually they gave up on asking questions or trying to take pictures.

Crystal Bot was the biggest mess out of all of them. She couldn't stop glitching. She hadn't gone to the actual funeral, as Auto had had some work to do in the lab (and Bass didn't want her creating a scene), so she had volunteered to stay behind so that Auto could go. But this time Auto was back at the lab and she forced herself to try and pay her respects without losing it entirely. That proved difficult, so as soon as she found him, Crystal But clung to Jewel Man's arm and refused to let go. Not that Jewel Man minded. Helping her actually kept him calm.

Roll looked over at Crystal Bot and smiled weakly. _Aw...it's so sweet how much she cares..._ Thinking a moment, she nudged Bass beside her and whispered, "Hey, Bass."

The dark robot didn't like anyone disturbing his concentration. Self-control took a lot of effort for him, so when he turned to her he was glaring. "What do you want?"

"You should say something to Sonata to make her feel better."

Bass grimaced and rolled his eyes. "You're her friend. You do it."

But Roll just glared at him until he sighed and obeyed. "Sonata."

"Y-yeah, Forte-kun?" The crystalline girl-bot sniffed and whispered in reply.

"_**Suck it up.**_"

A horrified Roll gasped, but to her surprise Crystal Bot giggled weakly. "Aw, Forte-kun, what an awkward thing to say. Thanks for trying."

Noticing that her brother kept looking around at the crowd and behind them instead of the actual service, Roll looked at Mega Man sadly. She knew why he was doing that.

"He can't come out here, you know." Roll spoke quietly. "If the reporters saw him, he'll be arrested..."

"I know." Mega Man sadly replied. "It's just that we haven't seen him since that night, and I just thought that he might be here."

"Maybe he's out hiding in those trees over there." Roll suggested. "You know how sneaky he is."

"He _better _be." Bass, who had heard their conversation, muttered with contempt.

-t-

"I'm glad that's over..." Crystal Bot sniffed as she, Mega Man, Bass, and Roll all teleported into the hangar bay of the lab. "I hate funerals! Or memorial services or whatever! It's all scary!"

Bass rolled his eyes. "You're just a wimp."

"I don't think it was too bad." Mega Man said sympathetically. "Everyone there-"

But all conversation stopped in its tracks as they noticed Proto Man standing there, waiting for them at the door that led to the rest of the lab. The red and grey robot looked like he had something very important on his mind, though he waited until they reached the others to speak it. Though still a bit nervous, Proto Man was no longer reluctant. He had been thinking for the past few days, and he knew that this was the right thing to do. First of all, he addressed his sister.

"Roll, thank you."

"For what?" the confused girl-bot asked.

"For this."

Steeling himself, Proto Man approached Crystal Bot, whose reaction was to "hmph" and turn away with a scowl. But this didn't deterr Proto Man the slightest bit.

"Crystal, do you still have those plans Dr. Light sent you about fixing my power core?"

"Why do you care?"

The side of his mouth turned up with amusement. "I want you to fix me."

Everyone held their ears at the sound of a gleeful squeal. Crystal Bot's mood did a complete 180, and she jumped up and embraced him around the neck. "Yay! Proto-kun's gonna live!"

Roll and Rock of course had to join in the hug, and despite being so crowded Proto Man was actually happy. Bass didn't care about the goings-on, but no one was paying attention to him anyway.

"What made you change your mind?" Mega Man asked.

"It was all of you." Proto Man answered, feeling weird telling others how he felt. "I owe it to all of you... and I owe it to Dr. Light...to live. Roll, when I saw you the other night, I realized I couldn't let you grieve for me, especially not so soon after losing the doctor. After all, somebody's got to look out for little sis when Rock is out there saving the world."

Roll almost started glitching. "Thank you so much, Proto Man! Sona-chan, when can we have the automated machines ready?"

"Right now! Auto was so optimistic that he already did it a few days ago." she grabbed Blues by the arm and started hauling him down to the lab. "Hee hee, I owe Auto a hundred bucks!"

"You bet against me?"

"Oh, cutie, I'd gladly pay a million to get you to live." the happy tech-bot giggled. "Besides, how can I figure out all your secrets without you?"

Proto Man smiled, "Eh, well I guess I didn't exactly have Vegas odds..."

"Are you kidding?" Mega Man insisted. "I knew you'd do the right thing in the end!"

Roll grabbed his other arm, and the happy siblings went to the lab, where Auto was waiting for them.

-t-

It was the first time Bass had been on patrol, and as expected, he found it boring. Already he had to get three cats out of three different trees, and he was starting to think that people were doing it on purpose just to annoy him. It wasn't all bad, though. At one point he had trailed a burgler with eyes on the local bank, but once the criminal realized that it was the dark, violent Bass after him rather than the adorable bomber, he threw down his gun and ran away. Not that the would-be crook got far before being stopped by a purple wolf, but it was humorous nonetheless.

All the same, Bass was impatient to leave. He had found a new book he wanted to read, and Mega Man was supposed to come to the top of Kauffman Tower, where Bass was now waiting, to replace him. But the dark robot didn't have long to wait before a long blue streak and a shorter red one came down from the sky, signalling the entrance of Mega Man and Rush.

"Thanks for covering for me, Bass." the blue bomber spoke as Rush went forward to cheerfully speak to Treble. "The reading of the will took a lot longer than expected."

"Eh, I wasn't going to go to it anyway." The black and gold robot replied with a frown, watching as his wolf promptly barked at Rush to leave him alone. "It's sick to be gathered there getting stuff from a dead guy like it's Christmas or something."

"I think you're taking it too seriously."

Bass rolled his eyes. "So what happened to you guys? The law says all robots have to be owned by someone."

"Ah yes." Mega Man recalled. "Well, Team 9 ended up split up, like normal I guess. Jewel Man is still staying in Monstropolis and Splash Woman is staying with the navy, but everyone else is spreading out. Poor Magma Man ended up in Canada in this small rural area, which is bad for him because he's so social. And Galaxy Man is going up on the space station with Team 5 under Congressman Harry Briggs' ownership."

Bass didn't care about Team 9, and from the bemused expression on his face Rock could tell the dark robot knew he was stalling. "Yeah, what about you?"

"Oh, um..." Mega Man knew that Bass was going to find out sooner or later. "I got put under a robotic citizenship."

"What does that crap mean?"

"It means...that I don't need to be owned by a human." the blue robot said quickly, signalling for Rush to transform to jet mode. "Bye now!"

"WHAT?" Bass snapped as Mega Man took off. "Get back here!"

But Mega Man was gone already. Bass knew better than to be jealous, as no one with his history was going to be freed any time soon, but that didn't stop him. Sourly he turned to Treble, who was irked for the sake of his master.

"I can't believe this!" an angry Bass said through gritted teeth. "Do we have to be super-righteous morons to be set free? We _really_ should have joined the Lights back in the day...now we're just lucky Cossack lets us do what we want."

-t-

Mega Man's first stop was the hospital. He had some paperwork to be completed there, for one, and for two he still didn't know how Crystal Bot's robotic assistant was smashed during Dr. Light's stay. But most of all, Dr. Nikola Cain had been transfered to Monstropolis Peace Street Hospital due to their expertise in handling death spike related injuries. It was creepy to Mega Man that enough people had been injured by the spikes for there to be specialists on the topic, but for now he tried not to think about it.

Talking to Dr. Cain had proven interesting. The man was barely able to do that, and not very willing to, especially due to the fact that he was talking to a robot. But Mega Man determined that he wasn't a threat any longer, though he should be on watch for a while. Quite frankly Dr. Cain had given up, and all he did was make cryptic "prophesys" about what would happen because of the existense of robots. Rock didn't take any of them seriously. Not that he told Cain anything about it, but he knew his brother, Mega Man X, would one day emerge from his capsule, and then the world would be different. A lot more peaceful. Mega Man was willing to stake his life on it.

But for now, his business was almost through. He had to turn in some papers in to the front desk, and then he would be able to go on with his normal routine. Sighing a bit as he pushed the button of the elevator, he realized that his routine would never be normal again. Not without Dr. Light at the end of it. Mega Man wondered if he would ever adjust.

Mega Man stared at the two elevators, standing between them as the lights above indicated that they would be coming to his level soon. He had a choice of which one to take.

_Ha, _he thought to himself. _Wouldn't it be funny if something like choosing an elevator ended up being a really fateful decision?_

It was a strange thought, and he told himself as much. After all, how could one elevator or another affect his life when they both would be stopping at the same floor? He laughed a bit, leaving the thought unexplored as he went to the left elevator, which had opened first. As no one else was getting on, Mega Man closed the doors and pushed the buttons for the ground floor.

Only seconds after Mega Man had gone, the other elevator opened, and out emerged a moderately tall man in sunglasses, very old with greying hair and a bald head. The shock of his hair that was left stuck out both to the right and left, and the man scratched at his grey beard as he went down the hall. He wasn't very used to it, despite the fact he had done plenty of disguises (specifically, bad ones), previously in his life. Dr. Wily was tempted to pull it off, but he ignored the temptation and moved on, entering the room of Dr. Nikola Cain unaccosted, followed only by someone in a large brown coat that covered his entire body, and a mismatched hat that for some reason didn't sit well on the second stranger's head.

Dr. Cain looked horrible, and Wily had to laugh. Both of the programmer's legs were in casts, and his head was bound in wrappings. A clear tube fed him oxygen, and the chart told Dr. Wily that his lungs were still suffering from the dust and ash he had to emerge from when his lab exploded. Cain's dark, bruised eyes were closed, and he appeared to be unsuccessfully trying to sleep.

Waking and looking up at the surprising guests, Cain croaked weakly, "What do you want?"

"Hello there! How are you feeling?"

"Like crap. Go away."

"You're hardly polite. I really think you should be in this situation."

"Uhnn...leave me alone." Dr. Cain attempted to turn away, but moving only pained him. "Ow...who are you guys anyway? You're not the doctors here."

Dr. Wily pulled off his beard with glee, only happy to answer his question. "I think you might recognise me from TV."

Dr. Cain gasped in horror and shock, recognising him immediately. "You! How dare you come here?" Cain coughed twice before continuing. "If it weren't for you, then robots would never have been in the army or in labs and we wouldn't have a retarded blue geek as a hero instead of a real human being! You're every bit as guilty as Dr. Light is... or was. Is that guy dead yet? I don't hear anything in here."

It actually surprised Wily how offended he was when Cain spoke that way of his rival. "Shut up, I don't care about your opinion! You're just going to do exactly as I tell you."

"Bull!" Cain snapped back, wincing a little from moving too much. "I refuse to do anything for you! And unlike you, I can actually accept my failure. Once this hospital stay is over, I'm gone. You can do whatever evil you want by yourself."

"Hmm..." Wily wasn't at all peturbed, despite the fact he acted like it. "Oh, you know, I have been very rude. Meet my associate, Cut Man."

He referred to the stranger in the brown coat, who revealed himself as the classic orange and white robot as he pulled off his not-so-clever disguise. "Good morning, Dr. Cain! I'm Cut Man, and I bring the pain!"

Cain stared at Cut Man in disgust. "Why do your robots have such awful personalities? And - hey! Get away from me!"

The scissor-bot laughed terribly as the blades on his head snapped open and shut, coming closer to the injured programmer's legs. "Oh? So you want me to _cut it out_? I can do just that, you know."

"Oh great, I'm going to get killed by a robot that makes stupid puns. I should have died in the lab explosion..."

"Let me make everything perfectly clear to you." Dr. Wily said firmly, sticking one of his thick fingers in Cain's face. "You're going to complete your part in my plans, or Cut Man will start chopping pieces from you until he hits something vital."

Dr. Cain sighed. He had a hard time with pain, and in his current situation he was at his limit, and Cut Man hadn't so much as touched him yet. He wasn't even going to pretend he was stronger than he was. "Fine, what do you want?"

"First of all, you're going to give me the back ups to your viruses."

"I lost everything in the explosion!"

The wacky-haired scientist shook his head with a smirk. "I was really hoping that we could be honest with each other, Mr. Cain. Oh well. Cut man, I think he needs an amputation..."

Before the cutter-bot could get any closer, Dr. Cain gave in. "Alright, alright! I'm sending it to you now!"

Wily raised an eyebrow, and suddenly Cut Man glitched, holding his head. Dr. Cain grinned viciously as Cut Man continued to glitch. Starting to get mad, Wily went over to see what was wrong with his robot. But then suddenly the robot straightened, seeming no less happy than before.

"Don't worry, boss." Cut Man said confidently. "I'm just fine! Though that was a pretty bad virus!"

"WHAT!" Dr. Cain exclaimed, a nerve on his forehead angrily throbbing even through the bandages. "No one can overcome my programming!"

"Apparently, one person can." Wily boasted, flashing his gleaming teeth. "But how did you do that anyway?"

Looking warily at the still-eager-to-cut-something robot, Dr. Cain answered, "I have...a chip in my brain..."

Wily looked even more shocked than before, but his expression slowly turned to one of evil mockery as he rubbed his hands together. "Wow, you're not a bright one, are you? This makes my plans that much easier. Alright, go ahead and give Cut Man the base programming for the viruses, and no funny business or I'll put a virus of my own inside _your _mind. Got it?"

"Fine..." Cain obeyed, seething and glaring.

"Good, good!" Wily gleefully said. "Now just so you know, you'll be getting your arraignment probably in a month or two. That's when my robots will come and break you out. Isn't that so nice of them? I think we're going to be good friends from now on...oh, and by the way, I'll leave it to your imagination to come up with what I might do if a word of this gets out to the police."

Wily cackled as he left, and Cut Man teleported out. Dr. Cain, left with nothing but a sense of dread, could only lie there in fear of what the future might hold for him. Leaning back into his pillows, he groaned, realizing how much of a mistake he had made in going against Wily in the first place. If the mad scientist hadn't stopped trying to get his revenge after nine failed attempts, he wasn't going to let Cain get away.

\\\\\\\

Author's notes:

- Just in case you forgot, the hospital is one of those areas a robot can't teleport into, but they can teleport out of them, which is why Cut Man had to bother with the disguise.

- Man, this chapter took so many rewrites! Expect some good deleted scenes. A lot of what happened here I tried to write in different ways, but they just didn't have the effect I needed. I was trying to be too emo on my first try, and well, it's time for the story to move along. I'd really prefer that my stories weren't too long, just to be easier to read.

- Does anybody like the robot masters from 6-8? I mean, Shade Man was cool, but all my favs were in 5 or downwards (other than Bass). What do y'all think?

- D'aww! I was reading Mega Man Complete Works today, and it showed this picture of Dr. Light sleeping on his desk, and there were all manner of tiny robots all over him, and a cute little Bass was snuggled asleep in his beard...so cute! And miniature Guts Man and Elec Man were trying to pull a blanket over Dr. Light's shoulders. It was so precious!

=====Dr. Cain

**"Do what I tell you, stupid robot!"**

Good point: programs well

Bad point: selfish

Likes: tennis

Dislikes: robots

Yeah, unlike the other doctors, Dr. Cain cares more about physical fitness. He prefers to keep in shape, and considers himself the best looking villain of all time. Tennis is his favorite sport, and its a form of meditation to him.

He was born in Sweden to moderately well off parents, and he from a young age wanted to know the most about technology, and he was basically raised on old science fiction movies. So he opted to become the next Buck Rogers. Marrying a girl who thought he was smart, he got a good job programming. However, the marriage was a bitter one, as Dr. Cain was only focused on himself, so after six years they got a divorce. Cain has two children: Rodney and Klaus, both of whom he now rarely sees.

This divorce inspired him to become a villain, as he stole money to try and get his sons to like him better than their mother. Eventually he fell in love with the crime itself, and enjoyed terrorising European bank tellers, becoming an infamous legend. However, it irked him that Wily was more well-known than him, especially since most of Wily's work was done with robots, and Cain considered that cheating.

Trying to make the world realize that robots were not supposed to be made intelligent, Cain built his robot masters to show the world how "bad" it had gotten, and how easily crime could be commited in such a technological age. However, Cain is a good programmer, but not engineer. His robots simply can't stand up to Light's or Wily's, and he now knows it.


	13. Where They Cannot Return

Bass was starting to get anxious to go back to Russia. Crystal Bot could tell. But for now they were both still in Dr. Light's lab, and Bass had only just returned from covering Mega Man's patrol an hour ago. Crystal Bot was compiling the computer software and hardware that Dr. Light had left the two of them, studying every new technology as they went on and occasionally showing a bit or two to Treble, who was sitting patiently nearby. Bass was surprised at how many books Dr. Light had left him, and he wasn't sure that the suitcase Crystal had bought him would be big enough. And it just plain felt weird to him to accept them.

"It's not right..." Bass complained. "We shouldn't benefit like this from his death."

"Oh, your way of thinking is all wrong, Forte-kun." Crystal Bot cheerfully responded, very happy to be examining programming she had never seen before. "He wanted us to have all of this. We get to remember him more. And of course he wants you to be happy. I'm sure if he were here he'd tell you not to worry about it."

"Hmph. If he were here it wouldn't be an issue."

Crystal Bot turned away from the computer and looked at Bass, who was now fingering an old copy of Watership Down. "Aw, you're such a sweetie!"

"No, I'm not." he growled in her general direction.

"Yeah too you are. Aw, you miss Dr. Light. That's cute!"

"I am NOT cute, get it?"

"Well yeah, you're too cool to be cute, but you being nice is cute." the girl-bot couldn't help but giggle as she went back to storing the data. "Aww..."

"Ugh, shut up."

"If I feel like it!"

Bass rolled his eyes. Talking to her reasonably never seemed to work to get her to behave. It was best to just avoid encouraging her. He picked up the next book with interest; it was How the Irish Saved Civilization. Wondering where Dr. Light had gotten all of these strange and seemingly unrelated books, Bass started flipping through it, only to be interrupted only a moment later when Crystal Bot reluctantly spoke up again.

"Hey Forte...are you friends with Rock now?"

"Ugh, no." The dark robot cringed, wondering why in the world she was bringing it up. "We're...associates. Yeah."

"Okay."

Bass went back to his work, not noticing that Crystal Bot was looking around the room for any sign of Auto or Roll. She then turned to Bass, who was still oblivious to what she was doing, the expression on her face becoming serious and calculating. She looked like she was going to say something, but Bass spoke first.

"Oh hey, you know that anti-virus you installed on me? I think you better install it on Rock. Those Cain-bots were able to hack his systems too easily and I don't think he'd be able to handle more viruses if someone who knew what they were doing hacked him."

There was a pause for a minute.

"No."

Bass turned around, finding his technician standing over him stubbornly, her expression one of hatred as she glared at her stunned boss.

"What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong..._with me?_" Crystal Bot hissed. "What about you? You're the one acting weird! You're all like: 'Oh sure I'll go get Rock for you, Dr Light', or 'of course I'll cover your next patrol, Mega Man, I don't mind at all' and now you want me to upgrade him? What are you, his BFF?" The girl-bot only got angrier as she continued, lifting a dramatic fist for effect. "You're not! You're his rival, his superior!"

Bass' mouth twisted in a grim knot. He could already see where this was going. "...I'm not going to destroy him, Crystal." he warned. "I already told you that. Now shut up about it."

From Bass' use of her normal name and not her musical alternate, Crystal really should have known better than to keep pestering him. But she didn't.

"Look..." she said slowly. "I know you think fighting him is tough, but I've done a little work to completely insure that you have the edge. I got a bunch of data, and I've been upgrading you accordingly. You won't just defeat Rock...you'll shred him." her voice took on a sinister edge as she spoke those last words. "He's such a pathetic, happy little idiot! _He _shouldn't be the world's top hero!"

Bass, though he tried to get back to what he was doing, couldn't help but be tempted by it. But that only made him angrier at her. "You know I can't do that!"

"And why not?" she urged him. "So what if he saved your life? You basically saved his, because you're the only reason I didn't kill him when he was trapped by Echelon Man. You guys are even!"

"That's not the same thing! Even if it was, that's not the point!"

"Oh yeah? Then what is the point?"

"He doesn't deserve it!" Bass seethed, trying to keep control of himself. "He helps people, and according to my new job description, so do I. It goes against everything I'm doing if I off the blue dweeb."

"Okay, _fine_. If you insist on being that way, I promise to fix him when you win." Crystal Bot compromised. "He'll be just fine, you'll be the winner, and I'll install the anti-virus then, okay?"

"NO." Bass firmly intoned, rising to his full height as he made himself clear. "I'm not going to and you're not going to change my mind! I TOLD you that! I'm NOT making a slave of myself to orders from my dead, _bastard _creator, so you can just SHUT UP!"

"I'm just trying to help..." she grumpily whimpered.

"You can help me by doing what I tell you to do." Bass retorted, still baring his fangs but calming somewhat. "Now go away."

With that, Bass went back to what he was doing, now a lot more frustrated than before. He tried reading a couple of the more interesting books as he went on, but they didn't help much. He just slammed them wordlessly into the suitcase.

The girl-bot tried to respond, feeling a bit sorry for what she had done, but she was more mad than sorry. Finally she sputtered. "You've lost your nerve! If...if you won't kill him, then I will! And I won't fix him afterwards either!"

Bass tried to ignore her, and said nothing, though he was tempted to laugh.

Now definitely angry and not sorry at at all, she continued. "I mean it! I was happy when we were bad guys. You were so much better evil! Now you're just a stupid wuss sucking up to the government, doing whatever Dr. Cossack tells you, and being best friends with a stupid robot idiot! You're not cool anymore! They might as well just call you Loser Man now! I'm going to go back to blowing things up and having fun, even if you're just a dumb goverment bot!"

Bass glared at her, a new twitch in his eye. Both hateful and astonished, he shook his head at her, seething. "You don't understand anything, do you? Idiot."

That was the worst insult he could have given, so he went back to his work. Stung by his criticism of her intelligence, Crystal Bot stomped her foot. The dark robot continued to ignore her, calmer since he had "won". However, Crystal wasn't ready to give up yet, and she forced herself to push away the anger and think of a better strategy.

"I know why things changed for you, and I understand." Sonata said carefully, trying to sound mellow. "I know why you held back. Bass...Dr. Light isn't here anymore. You don't have to hold back for his sake."

Instantly Bass' most hideous expression yet was aimed at her, and Crystal Bot backed away in fear, knowing she had made a mistake. The black and gold robot had never looked so evil. His intimidating form overshadowed her, and she trembled, afraid for her life. Fortunately for the tech-bot, Bass kept his self-control, just barely. His extended hand didn't come toward her, but instead forcefully pointed at the nearest door.

"GET OUT."

The frightened girl-bot gasped, but even as Bass turned away again, Crystal remembered how upset she was. She hated how Bass kept refusing to see things her way, and she wanted to yell at him, despite being scared. Treble, however, was starting to get annoyed that the girl-bot wasn't listening to his master, and he began to growl softly at her.

"Fine...fine, I'll leave! I'm gonna leave and never come back! I go and kill Rock and I'll be a villain and you'll be sorry!"

Bass did laugh at that, though only with harsh sarcasm. "HA. Like you'd be a good villain. You care too much about stuff like people dying."

"But I will!"

"_Then get out and stop talking about it_!"

"FINE!" she screamed at him. "SEE IF I EVER UPGRADE YOU AGAIN!"

Crystal Bot teleported out, and Bass sighed half with relief and half frustration. His technician had never been one to second-guess his choices, and she had never yelled at him (other than to get his attention). His mind wandered to his most recent weapons upgrades, and he couldn't help but think how close he could to finally proving his superiority to the blue bomber. But shuddering, he immediately stopped those thoughts in their tracks. He had already made his decision, and he was going to stick by it.

Treble, however, looked at him with question. He barked.

"I don't care." Bass responded through gritted teeth. "Good riddance to her!"

Treble asked another question.

"I don't know." the dark robot sighed. "Not Auto, Bright Man sucks, and it'd take forever to find a half-decent human technician."

The problem was that Bass didn't want to be merely maintained, he wanted to be constantly improved. Crystal Bot already understood that. Bass looked up at the computer where all of the programs Dr. Light had left him, and he sneered in annoyance, hating being so clueless about technology. There was no way he could comprehend, much less install, anything there. He missed Crystal Bot already.

"Why does she have to be so much trouble?" Bass hissed.

-t-

Mega Man had left the hospital some time ago, and though today the streets of Monstropolis were mildly calm. Nothing had happened that the police couldn't handle, and the bomber was left to fly peacefully over the city.

"Y'know, Rush, some days I think they would be fine without me!" Mega Man cheerfully commented.

Rush barked back, and Rock smiled. They would always be ready to help Monstropolis, and they both knew it. From out of the corner of Mega Man's eye, he could see a streak of yellow from atop the Kauffman Tower. Eagerly directing Rush towards it, Mega Man smiled, fairly certain that this time the streak wouldn't blink out and disappear again.

And it didn't. As Rush landed and Mega Man got off, Proto Man was still there, and he smiled his usual clever smile when he saw his brother.

"Hi Blues! How are you feeling?"

"Better than I ever have." Proto Man responded, still a bit nervous talking about his new power core. "I should have had this done a long time ago...but I there's no point in worrying about that."

"What are you going to do now?" his brother curiously asked, secretly hoping that Proto Man would return home to the lab.

"I'm not sure yet." Blues calmly answered.

Proto Man was trying not to get Mega Man's hopes up about anything. He was still the master of his own destiny, in his head, and for now he didn't want to tie himself down. About to ask his sibling something, Proto Man paused. Mega Man was receiving a transmission. While at first Rock's face was cheerfully indifferent, it quickly came to one of confusion as he lifted his hand to the side of his helmet in concentration. Finally the radio conversation ended.

"That was Bass..." Mega Man said with worry. "He says that Crystal Bot suddenly freaked out and ran away, and he suspects she might attack me or do something criminal in the city. He also said not to use her gift just in case it messes with my head somehow."

"What gift is that?"

"This." Mega Man pulled out the zip drive he had recieved for Christmas, giving it to his brother. "It helped me a lot against Dr. Cain. What it does is save my programs and memories so that if any virus or hacking gets me then I can have my original settings restored. It's been very helpful, which I why I can't believe any of this! Crystal Bot hasn't been any trouble since she left Wily."

Proto Man examined the device slowly, turning it over in his hands. He could remember when his brother used it on the side of the volcano. The device seemed almost normal, but something was off about it. There was a small, insignificant little hole that would not have been noticable without close examination. Proto Man, disappointed, immediately recognised it for what it was.

"I'd better help you find her." Blues said, keeping the device. "If she's going to cause trouble, it's better that way."

"Thanks." Mega Man answered. "I'm really hoping we won't have to call the police on this one. Maybe we can just talk to her sensibly."

"But why is she acting like that now?" Proto Man asked. "Didn't she choose to leave Dr. Wily?"

"Uh...you know what? I don't think she really chose at all." Mega Man observed with concern. "After we put her back together, I think she was just going along with what Wave Man and Bass wanted her to do. If Crystal and Bass had some sort of disagreement..."

Proto Man was thinking the same thing. "Let's not waste any time."

"Right!"

-t-

Alone in the desert just east of Monstropolis, Crystal Bot pouted and glitched, trying to figure out her next move. Truly depressed, she sat huddled at the base of a tall boulder, wishing that Bass would come and find her and apologize. But every time she heard one of his transmissions so that he could find her, she stubbornly refused to respond. Let him find her if he wanted her back so bad.

Crystal had to admit that she felt guilty about their argument, but she quickly suppressed that feeling, stubbornly choosing to think of him as dumb and mean. So busy in her thoughts, it took her a moment to notice that someone was approaching from behind.

She turned around quickly, eager with hope as she peeked around the boulder. "Forte-kun?"

"Sorry, no."

It was Proto Man that approached her, and her face curdled instantly. Pouting, she turned away as the red robot approached.

"What do _you _want?"

"I just wanted to talk." Proto Man said as he came around from the side of the boulder and sat next to her. "You're really upset. What's bothering you?"

Crystal Bot frowned and stuck out her bottom lip. "Me and Forte-kun had a fight. A bad one."

"What about?"

The girl-bot looked up at him and scowled, but then guiltily turned away and stared at the ground, her fingers absentmindedly digging through the sand. Proto Man was patient. He would wait all day, and even from the other side of his shades Crystal Bot could see that. But she still refused to answer.

"Did it have something to do with this?" Proto Man pulled out her zip device.

The girl-bot looked stunned to see him with it. "Hey, I gave that to Rock, not you. It's not yours."

"I know. But did you think I wouldn't notice that when Rock used it when he was fighting Dr. Cain, it sent out a very narrow beam, long distance transmission? What exactly were you trying to use that for? Where did that transmission go and what was on it?"

Crystal gasped, then turned away and refused to look at Proto Man.

The red and grey robot didn't have to wait for an answer. He could already guess it. "You received the transmission because you're trying to study Rock's programs so that you can upgrade Bass, right? And of course you set it so that Rock would be unable to detect it."

She still didn't answer.

Proto Man knew what he was doing. "I suppose Bass hasn't given up on defeating Rock then. It looks like I'll have to tell his ethics agent and have him put under arrest. Perhaps he'll be recycled, or put in the robot museum."

"NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO!" Crystal Bot cried out. "It's not his fault! He didn't have anything to do with it!"

"Oh? Whose fault is it then?" asking in the sort of voice that made it clear he already knew the answer.

"All mine..." she whimpered, confessing everything. "I was trying to get Forte all upgraded and stuff so he could defeat Rock."

"And why do you want that so badly?"

Crystal Bot was a little surprised that Proto Man remained so calm, so she went ahead and answered, a little nervously. "Well...it's funny...I never started hating Rock until after I left Wily. I just always figured that one day Forte would beat him and then we'd reprogram Rock and he'd be our dopey, cute little brother."

"But he's older than every Wily-bot."

"Well yeah, but he does seem like a little brother. Just the way he acts, you know? Being all adorable and naiive like that."

Proto Man did understand. "Go on."

"So then I wake up one day and all of a sudden I'm in Light's labs, and Forte and Rock are BFFs!" she spat angrily. "And it's just literally the day after I made Forte all strong and tough with that new armor! I know he coulda beat Rock, and he almost did! It's just not fair! Now everybody thinks that Mega Man is the best, and he's not!"

She pouted, kicking at the dirt with a little growl. Blues gave her a moment to calm down before he asked his next question. "Of he doesn't want to fight Rock anymore, why are you pressuring him?"

"That's just the thing!" Crystal Bot exclaimed. "He really, really wants to! If you were around him a lot, you could see it. He's always _reading_!"

"What's wrong with reading?"

"Well, nothing I guess, but he's always reading to distract himself. He never used to look at books twice before. When we were with the Lights at Christmas, he barely ever put them down." she said grumpily. "Forte's changed a lot. Back when we were with Wily, he was so cool! He'd always be fighting Rock and doing stuff nobody else was allowed to do. Everybody that didn't think he was cool were just jealous! But now...now he's all like 'meh, Rock doesn't deserve it' or 'I won't follow Wily's orders anymore'. I even offered to repair Rock after he beat him! That's a good compromise! It's just so annoying! Forte's the best, and everybody should know it!" Crystal Bot quickly caught herself, scowling. "Well, when he's not being a jerk, anyway."

"Are you sure he's the one being a jerk? After all, had he really been set to self-destruct that day, he would have died a loser. He never defeated Rock, and he would never have done anything of value either. Now Bass has the chance to actually make something of himself, and you're standing in the way."

Crystal Bot scowled, but her angry visage got no reaction from Proto Man, at least nothing she could see beyond his visor. "You're just saying that because Rock's your brother."

"No, I'm not." Proto Man said with complete honesty, knowing how strong Mega Man really was. "Think about it. Bass is trying his hardest to improve himself, and you, his technician who he should be able to trust completely, are trying your best to undermine his efforts. Bass has changed. He's changed for the _better_." Proto Man could barely believe the words coming out of his mouth. "He's helped a lot of people in the past few months, and he's actually learning to control himself. Or do you have a problem with that?"

"You mean him being good?" she hung her head, gazing at her lap. "I...I don't know. It makes him happy, but...he's so different now. He was a lot more fun when he blew stuff up and people were afraid of him. I don't want him to be unhappy, though. If he wants to be a good guy, I guess that's okay. He can do what he wants."

"Other than avoid a fight with Rock." he commented. "Why is that so important to you?"

"I'll...I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to get mad. Or laugh at me."

"If I didn't get mad at what you did to Rock, I don't think I'll get mad at anything else."

His words were rebuking, and Crystal shuddered before continuing, starting to cry as she confessed. "...I miss Wily..."

Proto Man was almost stunned, though he remembered how fanatical Wily's robots tended to be. Crystal Bot couldn't have avoided that programming. He felt sorry for her, but at the same time he knew she was intelligent enough to know better. His face got ever so slightly more stern, but he let the ashamed girl-bot go on.

"Wily was like my dad..." she sniffed. "We'd build stuff together and he'd teach me stuff, and I'd get to do secret stuff to help with his plans like build mets and buy parts. It was so much fun! But he was always so mean to Forte. He'd yell at him all the time and say he was a loser and a whole bunch of bad stuff I got in trouble for repeating. Forte always did what he was told, but to Wily he was never good enough. I just wanted Forte to prove once and for all that Wily was wrong about him. He never ever said that he was proud of Forte. And to be honest...I miss being a bad guy too. That was fun...doing stuff by the rules isn't."

Proto Man went silent a moment before speaking again. "You know about Crystal Man and what Wily did to him. Wily was never your real father. As good as you thought those days were, all it took was for one disobedient act for him to get angry and reprogram you."

The girl nodded, sitting sadly with her head propped against her knees, remembering how horrible it was to have the mad scientist's face be red from anger as he yelled at her. The subsequent failed attempt to flee from the robot masters had been equally frightening. As she remembered fighting Bass and attacking him with the death spike energy, she had to stop. It was too horrible to remember.

"He was never your father." Proto Man repeated. "Those days you thought you were happy were all a lie. Now, Bass is your friend, isn't he?"

"Yeah...if he's not still mad at me..." she gloomily answered with a glitch. "He's my best friend in the whole world..."

"Okay then. Are you willing to give up that friendship just for the sake of a life of lies that would never come back even if you wanted it to?"

"I guess not."

"Then you know what you have to do."

"I have to apologize?"

"You have to apologize."

"Are you sure that will make him take me back?" Crystal Bot asked fearfully. "He was really mad at me when I left."

"That's not the point. Even if he never wanted to see you again, it's still your responsibility to apologize."

"Hmph. Why do you have to be so smart?" she teasingly stuck out her tongue at him.

But Blues wasn't finished. It was obvious to see from the serious look on his face, and Crystal Bot sighed and settled down, ready for another lecture.

"There's someone else you need to apologize to as well."

Crystal Bot looked at him curiously, and Proto Man patiently waited for it to occur to her. When it did shortly thereafter, Proto Man was far from surprised when he saw her furrow her brow and stubbornly fold her arms.

"It's very dangerous to interfere with Rock's narrow beam detectors." Proto Man warned her. "He needs those for his job. You're not only endangering him when you do that, but also all of the innocent people that Rock fights to save."

"I didn't block all of them from him, I just password protected that one frequency..." the girl-bot pouted. "Look, why don't I just fix the device and make it work like normal? Then it'll work fine and Rock will never notice the difference! I promise I won't try to make it send data to me anymore!"

But then Crystal could really begin to see a change in Blues' face. Though he always hid his emotions well, for just a moment she could see how he really felt. He was going to protect his brother from everyone who threatened him, bar none. Even though only his mouth was visible, it was still very easy to see that there was no tolerance in Proto Man for anyone who would disrespect Mega Man. It was terrifying to be at the receiving end of those sentiments. The girl-bot shuddered.

"You'll do that," Proto Man firmly replied, still frightening. "Right after you apologize to him. And Auto will inspect your work."

Crystal Bot sighed.

Proto Man's face softened slightly. "You weren't really going to try and defeat Mega Man yourself, were you?"

"Nah, I don't think I could really do it. He's so darn _lucky_..."

"And skilled." Proto Man added.

"Hee hee, that too." Crystal Bot giggled.

"So alright, what are you going to do? Be a villain or apologize?"

"...Apologize...it won't be any fun being a villain without Forte."

Proto Man disapproved. "Crystal, being a villain isn't fun at all."

"Says you."

"You need to understand something. When it comes to crime, we robots have it different from humans. We don't have the rights they do, and we also don't have the blame. When you, Bass, and Team 5 all decided to leave Wily, everyone cheered you on, believing that everything bad you did was the result of Wily, and you were perfectly capable of leaving him. But if you had succeeded in getting Bass to defeat Rock, all of that would have been forgotten and robots everywhere would be given a bad name. At best the government would add more restrictions to robotics, and at worst they would ban sentient robots entirely."

The tech-bot gasped. "They wouldn't!"

Proto Man nodded. "They would. But even in a normal human society, people have to learn to get along. You don't like it when people steal things from you, right?"

"No way! I'd beat 'em up if somebody tried!"

"And no one else likes to be stolen from either." Blues tried to keep her on topic. "But Wily did a lot more things than steal. He destroyed cities and even killed people. You don't like doing any of that, do you?"

Crystal Bot, feeling a little self-concious, retreated to a more childish accent. "Well no...I just like makin' stuff blow up and scarin' people."

"That's not good. You see, societies are where people take care of each other and work together for the common good. That's where laws come in, and all good laws are meant to encourage people to do the right thing. Like not blowing random things up and scaring people. None of us like to be treated badly, so we have to remember to treat others just as well."

"I guess you have a point...aw fudge monkeys!" Crystal Bot groaned. "Forte was right! He said I wouldn't be a good villain because I care too much!"

"Wow, Bass is getting smarter already." the red and grey robot smiled. "Must be from all those books he reads."

"Aaah, you hush!" Crystal teased him. Eager to talk about something else, she quickly changed the topic. "Hey, you wanna know a secret?"

"Should I know it?"

"Yeah, 'cause it's about you."

Proto Man smiled, though a bit doubtful she knew anything interesting. "Alright."

"Okay, so you remember how I told you that Dr. Light drew you in his science notebook from college? Turns out that wasn't true. I read some more and found out that it was drawn by this girl called Azuma Ayumu."

"And who was that?"

"Mrs. Light."

That got Blues. He started and his mouth hung slightly open, making Crystal Bot wish that he wasn't wearing his helmet so that she could see his full expression. She giggled with glee at his reaction and nodded vigorously.

"Yep! Though I think when she drew this they weren't married yet, 'cause he said the notebook was from when he was in college. She drew you, and then if I studied the handwriting right, it was Wily that wrote below it and said that you were what hers and Dr. Light's kid would look like. Hey, you wanna see a picture of her? I found it in the notebook too."

Without waiting for an answer, Crystal Bot reached back into her hood and pulled out a small photo album, gently removing a picture from it and handing it to the red and grey robot. Proto Man took it nervously, seeing two very happy people: one was very clearly a young Dr. Light, who was still recognisable despite his lack of facial hair. The other person, a young Japanese woman, looked like the happiest person on earth. Her skin was pale, and her brown eyes were very large and innocent. Her jet black hair had lots of volume, and it was cut in a style very similar to Roll's. One arm was around Dr. Light's shoulders, and the other went past the borders of the picture, obviously holding the camera.

"She...she looks a lot like Rock..."

"Mm-hmm!" Crystal Bot said with a giggle. "All of you guys were based on her."

"Do you know anything about her? What was she like?" Proto Man asked, trying to recollect his calmness.

"Hee hee! Dr. Light wrote a lot about her! I am sooo surprised that he gave me those notes, because he's all cute at the end of it and he says if he ever got married he'd marry her. Apparently she was like a combination of you and Rock. Like she was happy all the time like him, but she was all serious and mysterious like you sometimes, and her major in college was philosophy. She wasn't as smart as Dr. Light, but she was still pretty smart and was his inspiration to make robots."

A sense of dread filled Proto Man. As wonderful as this Ayumu sounded, there was one obvious question that came to mind, though it frightened him to ask it.

"What happened to her?"

"She died way before you were built. Cancer. I checked some records, and it turns out they were only married for like a year and a half. You didn't see her gravestone? It's right next to the doctor's."

"I didn't notice it..." he answered slowly. "I didn't think to look."

Proto Man bowed his head, staring at the picture in grief. It was even harder to think of Dr. Light now more than ever. He had to bear the death of his wife, and then the robot she had designed for him vanished. A new guilt crawled its way inside Blues, and he started to wish that Crystal Bot hadn't told him. And at the same time, he couldn't bear the thought of never knowing that this person existed. He was torn.

"Aw...don't be all sad! You have a mom! That's so cool! So few robots have moms. Even I don't have one...unless you count being based on Roll, and I don't. That would be too weird! She doesn't seem like a mom to me. And I'd have to count Auto and Mega Man X as extra dads too. Three dads and a stepdad...yeah, that's just too complicated. Why are you still sad? I bet Ayumu would have liked you a lot. You're all adorable under that helmet and stuff."

Proto Man looked up at her and frowned. "When did you see me without my helmet?"

"Forte-kun showed me his memory of seeing you without it. You're so precious!"

The sour look on his face only made her crack up. "Aw, don't be like that! After all, your mom did design you to look that way, and I already saw her sketches already."

Proto Man sighed, looking once more at the picture. "Can I keep this?"

"Sure. It's your parents. I didn't tell the others yet, so you can tell them if you want. I'm not sure if Dr. Light told them anything about her. Probably he was too sad. And by the way, guess what her favorite kind of music was?"

"Um...rock and roll?"

"Nope." the girl-bot smiled. "Blues."

-t-

Proto Man had contacted Bass, and so the dark robot was waiting impatiently in front of the lab as the sun was steadily making its way down. He didn't have to wait long. Two colored streaks hit the ground only a few minutes after he had returned from his search for his missing technician. The green and cyan streak turned into Crystal Bot, and she ashamedly stared at the ground as she approached her boss. The second streak turned into Proto Man, who instead kept his distance out of manners.

"Forte-kun..." the girl-bot began, barely glancing up at his disapproving, snarling visage. "I'm really, really sorry. You were completely right, and I was completely wrong. I'm so sorry for undermining your plans and being a jerk and yelling at you when you were just trying to be a good guy. Please let me be your technician! I promise I'll never ever try to make you fight Rock ever again!"

Bass was taken aback, fully expecting to have to talk some sense into Crystal. It wasn't like her to apologize without at least trying to make it look like the other party wasn't at least somewhat to blame. He looked at her pleading face, and she seemed sorry enough. It shocked him to no end, though he tried to disguise it.

"Well..." he answered very slowly, more to unnerve Crystal Bot than out of reluctance. "I guess. As long as you're sorry about it. Now go in there and get back to work. I want to get out of this place as soon as possible."

"Yay!" she squealed. "I'll finish it now!"

Proto Man cleared his throat, interrupting her happy moment. Immediately Crystal's face fell, and she addressed her boss unhappily. "I gotta go apologize to Rock first..."

Bass lifted an eyebrow, feeling his heart darken. "What did you do?"

"I was stealing data on how he was built."

"Eh, go on, then."

Sighing, the girl-bot went inside to do just that, hoping to get it over with. Bass turned to Proto Man, more than a little amazed.

"How did you do that?" Bass asked with surprise. "She almost never admits when she's wrong."

"If you listened to how she feels once in a while." Proto Man answered dryly. "Then she might be more inclined to listen to you."

Bass rolled his eyes with a sneer. He never liked accepting advice from anyone, much less Proto Man. He turned away to enter the lab, having no more interest in bothering with the "know-it-all".

"Oh, by the way, Bass...now you owe me."

The dark robot immediately turned around to object, but Proto Man was gone. Bass cursed loudly, but in the darkness there was no one there to hear it.

Hidden in the distant corner of Monstropolis he had teleported himself into, Proto Man grinned, wondering what he could get to make Bass return the favor. Something big, no doubt. But for now, Blues decided to give himself plenty of time to think of something good. After all, there was no harm in letting Bass stew over it for a while. Proto Man smugly leaned back against the brick wall, glad that he now had the upper hand.

\\\\\\\

Author's notes:

- Gah, again another chapter that required some rewriting. I don't know what it is, but the tail ends of my stories seem to have a lot of those. I'm going to have to take some time thinking with my next one, so that when I write it I'll have a clear idea of what I'm going to do. Gah, I hope I finish this series before Mega Man 10 comes out. I have a feeling it'll have a bigger impact on the canon plot than we might guess...

====Bass (Forte)

**"Get lost, loser!"**

Good point: Emulous

Bad point: Vain as a peacock

Like: Champion

Dislike: Weak robot

Japanese CD data:

Good point: Determined

Bad point: Vain

Huh...I looked up "emulous" in a dictionary, and one of its meanings is "obsolete". How is that a good thing? Also there's "desirous of equaling or excelling". Not that great either.

I tried to stick as close as I could to Bass' normal characterization, which was hard because he goes through a lot of change in my story, thereby making him different. Overall he's the easiest canon character for me to write, as his bad attitude is fun. It feels like there's nothing too much to say about him here, because so much of it is in the story already.

I like Bass even though he wasn't in any of the Mega Man games I played as a kid, mostly because his characterization is in a way very simple: he's defined by his competitiveness to Mega Man. Here I wanted to pull him away from all of that and give him some personality of his own to stand on, because if you think about it, Bass, in the games, is actually a loser. Sure he's powerful, but he's so obsessed with fighting Mega Man that he never does anything else, and since he fails at attacking Mega Man, he never accomplishes anything in the end. Because we love him so much, we never think about it, but it's true. We think he's so cool, but really he's a complainer and very unsuccessful. And yet if you do realize this, you still don't care because you think Bass is awesome. Why is that? Is it his looks? Do we sympathize with his plight? Is it because he's so much darker and moodier than our blue bomber? Do we admire his drive? Do we want to hug him, squeeze him, call him George and tell him that it's okay he hasn't beaten Rock because we love him already?

In any case, there's more to Bass than meets the eye. This is probably what Capcom realized at some point, which is why they made the Network Transmission Bass so much more mysterious and successful than his robotic original. He became a hidden character, a powerful opponent (that does actually beat Rockman at one point in the games), and someone with a hurt past that us fangirls just love to squee over. However, that still leaves robot Bass as the lovable loser of the original series. I suspect in Mega Man 10 they'll remedy that.

So in the end, I think Bass is someone who doesn't know himself. He wants to be the greatest, so that's all he thinks of. In Okkusenman, his meeting with Dr. Light was the first time he ever started to ask himself important questions about himself and what he was doing with his life. This is one of the reasons he likes Dr. Light so much, as the doctor encouraged and believed in him, when few would. He began to think of what his true purpose in life should be because of Dr. Light.

And of course Bass is a glutton for attention. He loves having fans around and being talked well of or feared, which is why becoming a hero hasn't been as hard for him as he first thought it would be. While Crystal Bot is the second greatest robot technician (the first of course being Auto) and is a marvelous hacker, the things he likes about her the most are her unrelenting support and her almost complete blindness to his flaws. It also doesn't hurt that she's much less powerful and not a risk of being competition. Bass feels somewhat responsible for her, especially since its because of him that her entire life changed. Overall he considers her a possession, just how he sees Treble.

As far as Rock goes, for the moment Bass is somewhat okay with being second best, though if he can prove his superiority to Mega Man without actually attacking him, he'll try (hence the competition at Christmas). His pride was wounded when Mega Man saved his life, and he's actually very bitter about it, as if Mega Man had saved him just to make him feel bad about it. But since Bass knows that Rock isn't like that, he's actually starting to admire the little guy despite his bitterness. Not that he would ever admit it.


	14. Robot Master Rematch

Bass stared at the pile of pipi parts, wondering how he was going to get Crystal Bot's pet bird together. Usually he left repairs up to his tech-bot, but for now she was out getting some supplies. She said she needed them to upgrade Bruce so that he couldn't be randomly smashed by human. That was something the dark robot could get behind, but it did seem strange to him that she would let him stay in pieces so long. It bothered him.

But what bothered Bass more was the reason why Bruce had broken in the first place. It was only Crystal's guess that a nurse had stomped on him, but that proved untrue. Mega Man made the point of asking the nurses if they had, or knew anything about the mechanical bird being broken, but none of them claimed to know a thing. This, combined with Roll's fifteen minute glitch left the both of them concerned.

So that was why they were both gathered in the lab over Bruce's parts. Bass set most of the physical parts of Bruce aside as Mega Man plugged Bruce's memory chip, still mostly intact, into the compter. The blue bomber activated the computer to get it to copy Bruce's last memories as the finned robot tried to figure out what could have smashed it.

"Heh...definitely not cut, just hit by something." Bass noted. "And it's crushed sort of on the side."

"It must have been stepped on." Mega Man guessed. "Does that look like a tread mark to you?"

"Yeah, sort of. How long is that computer going to take?"

Mega Man tapped on the monitor a bit. "Uh...looks like a couple of minutes. These pipies are surprisingly well encoded."

"Did you find anything in Roll's head?" Bass asked.

Checking on Roll was one of the very first things that Mega Man had done when he found out about her missing memory. "Not much. She was just looking at the doctor when all of a sudden her vision went blurry and she shut down. I don't know what would do that; her CPU is well guarded against hacked shut-downs. When she woke up, it was just like a normal activation. She saw nothing."

"Sounds like something Wily would do..." the dark robot growled at the mention of his creator, but then changed his tone. "But him being dead..."

"I know." Mega Man nodded. "With Dr. Cain injured from the death spikes explosion...ugh, I really hope we're not going to have to face **another **evil genius."

Bass seemed doubtful. "Uh, hey Rock...back before I was built you defeated Team 3, and I heard that both you and Wily got smashed by parts of the fortress. How did Wily escape that?"

"I don't know...probably it was a fake Wily robot." Mega Man admitted. "He's used them before. But wait, wouldn't you know? That sounds like something Wily would brag about a lot."

Suddenly the dark robot noticed that he was recieving a transmission. "Hang on... _- What? - "_

_" - Uh, Forte-kun? - " _Crystal Bot's voice sounded out from the other end. _" - Are you...busy? - "_

_" - Yeah, why? - "_ Bass impatiently snapped back.

_" - Uh, never mind then, I can handle it. - "_

_" - Then stop bothering me! - "_

Crystal Bot cut the transmission. Nervously she turned back to the drunken person she was holding up in the alley, trying to figure out what she should do next and if it had been the right idea to not tell Bass what she was doing. One drunk old man couldn't be too hard to deal with, she figured.

Of course, it does make things different if that drunk person is Dr. Albert Wily.

"Cyrstle...krisstle...Crystaal Bot...ugh..." slurred, barely intelligible words formed from Wily's mouth. "Is that youu?"

"For the fifth time, yes!" the girl-bot wanted to scream, but managed to keep her voice somewhat down. "Honestly, you escape prison and cheat death just to get drunk? Who does that? It's not like you!"

Wily belched loudly, and Crystal Bot was more glad than ever that she had no sense of smell. "I think...I think you need to watch your tone...not reshpeckful at all..."

"Yeah, there's more than one reason for that." she angrily replied. "Erg, coffee...coffee makes people not drunk, right? Oh look who I'm asking. Come on..."

Hauling him over to a side, outdoors cafe, she ordered a coffee to go, only to have Wily fall on the floor as she paid the worker. Cringing from embarrassment, the girl-bot quickly went to go help him up and sit him at one of the tables. He promptly fell down again, barely caught by Crystal before he hit the ground.

"Is...is that guy okay?" the blonde employee asked the girl-bot.

"I, um, I think maybe." Crystal Bot answered with terrified embarrasment. "But don't worry, I won't keep him here too long...sorry!"

Trying not to involve anyone, Crystal Bot quickly righted her former master and shoved the coffee in his hands, hoping no one else would be curious enough to ask anything or offer to help. The sooner this was over, the better, the girl-bot decided.

"I swear if you throw up I'm going to shout that you're 'the great Wily' and everybody will see what a miserable wreck you are." Crystal Bot scornfully remarked. "I think that's the only reason nobody recognises you now. I'm no Roll, but I did take better care of you than this. You should've stayed in jail where you'd be safe. That's right back where you're going in a minute, so you better sober up. And stop embarrassing me!"

Wily inhaled deeply, staring at his coffee as if it were something more complex than hot water forced through dried, ground beans. "Every parent embarrasses their children from time to time..."

"Let's get something straight." Crystal hissed. "YOU. ARE. NOT. MY. FATHER. Got it?"

But the mad scientist went on without a hitch. "Ah yes...yes, yes. My little girl has changed a lot...bad influence... very bad...why did I have to build him...?" And he took a long drink of the coffee, not realizing how hot it was and promptly burning himself. He spat it out suddenly and clumsily.

"If you're gonna say crap about Forte-kun then you can shut up now. You were always a meanie to him but he's way better than you think." she carefully wiped some of the hot coffee from his chin with a napkin and sighed, speaking more quietly as she went on, straightening his collar and hair. "I wish you hadn't killed my real dad...Then I wouldn't hate you. I can forgive you being a meanie to Forte, and I'm not even mad about you turning me into a mechaniloid. Look at you. You need me. But no, you just had to get your revenge, didn't you?"

"Isn't that just how it always happens..." Wily started ranting drunkenly again, and Crystal Bot grumpily facepalmed, knowing instantly he wasn't paying attention to anything she said. "The little girl runs away just for the sake of a boy...they always like the bad ones...but you..." Wily lifted a finger and clumsily tried to point at Crystal Bot. "...You took it to a whole new level...you just had to elope with your own _uncle_-"

"AAAH! Please stop talking! Look, I'm a robot, not a real girl! Robots don't do the whole 'love' thing, you know that! And Forte's technically not even my uncle! Ew! Just...just shut up, you weirdo." Suddenly getting an idea, the girl-bot paused, acting guilty. She stared down at the ground, clasping her hands dramatically. "Oh, what am I doing? I should have known that you of all people would figure it out. It's true, all of it. Forte and I are in love...true love! I barely know what that means, but I do know that we'll always be together!"

She finished her performance with a dreamy sigh, staring off into space Then she turned to look at Wily, whose face was frozen in an expression of horror just as she had expected it to be. They stared at each other for a moment until finally Wily couldn't take it anymore.

"You're lying!" he shouted accusingly.

"And you're not drunk." Crystal Bot smirked, glad to have figured it out. "Or at least not that drunk anyway. Honestly, why did you fake it like that? You're just trying to get me to feel sorry for you so that I'll leave the good guys and go back to you again."

"Eh, something like that." Wily admitted vaguely. "But I did want to talk to you."

"Fine." she muttered curtly, folding her arms in resistance. "Talk all you want. How did you get out of jail anyway?"

"Heh, fake chestplate. Easily the most disgusting thing I ever built, but I managed to make it in prison with only prison materials, so I'll credit my incredible genius for it still." Wily took another sip of the coffee and frowned. "Ugh, this tastes nasty...I'm never coming here again."

Crystal Bot was only mildly impressed with his story. "Somebody had to do the autopsy. How'd you fool them?"

"Long story short, they were robots." Wily grinned.

"Oh wow, that's so dumb. You'd think they'd know better than that. That Dr. Cain guy maybe had a point about robots taking over everybody's job."

"Look, Crystal..." Dr. Wily took on a more serious tone, his eyes taking on a suspicous glint. "You're not really all that keen on staying with those good guys are you?"

"They're not so bad." the girl-bot huffed. "Rock's a moron but he's kind of okay. And Roll is really nice. Not like those stupid robot masters."

"But I can change all of that." Wily leaned forward, eagerly trying to convince her. "Look what I did when you were a mechaniloid. I could make you the single most dangerous robot in the world with your crystal death spike energy."

"I don't wanna." Crystal Bot pouted, turning her face away.

"Yes, you do." Wily grinned viciously. "I know you. You're right now on the verge of begging me to tell how I made death spikes into a reliable weapon. It's far too intruiging for you to just let it go."

Her lips quivered, and but she refused to admit Wily was right. "I don't wanna hurt people anymore. I don't like it when people are sad, and you don't seem to care about anyone being unhappy at all! I'm not going to go back to being like that!"

Wily thought about this for a moment, but his evil grin barely lessened, and he changed his tactics. "Come on now Crystal, you don't really feel that way do you? Remember how it was then? You were happy with me."

"Yeah, other than being aggravated by robot masters and having my team being lamer than everyone else. Oh yeah, and the part where you _killed my dad and said you were him_."

"All that can change!" Wily said, showing a little aggravation before he continued in a more repentant voice. "Look, Crystal, I'm...I'm very sorry about Crystal Man. I overreacted, and it was very stupid of me to do that. You're the most clever robot I've ever had working for me, if I had the sense to keep Crystal Man, my robots would have improved and I might have been more successful today."

This noticably affected Crystal Bot, and for a moment she seemed like she would give in. Dr. Wily looked so repentant...for once like a real person and not like an evil mastermind. She started to think that maybe he did care about her after all. But even then she simply shook her head.

"No, Grandpa. I'm a good girl now." she said quietly. "I only want to help society."

Wily scoffed. "What for? You think society is so great? They call themselves good, but look what they did to me! They left an old man in jail and they knew he had a heart condition!"

"What are you talking about?" Crystal Bot started. "You...you're lying!"

"Unfortunately not." Wily slumped back in the chair. "That's what your good guys did to me...I'm not sure how long I have to live..."

"No, no, no, no, no!" Crystal frowned, sticking out her lower lip. "Don't you do that! You gotta get better! If you die like Dr. Light, I'm gonna get mad! I know! I'll take care of you...but I promised Forte I'd help him...Okay, you can come with us to Dr. Cossacks, and I'll take care of you and you can see Toad Man's greenhouse and I'll get Roll to tell me everything she knows!"

As Crystal Bot ranted on, planning the future that she had in mind, the side of Wily's mouth went up in a clever grin. He knew he was making progress. Everything was going according to plan. Now he only needed Mega Man to show up.

-t-

The copying was done, and Mega Man and Bass were busily studying Bruce's memory in the hopes that they would find out what happened in those short fifteen minutes. Using Roll's internal timer as a guide to know when something interesting would happen, they checked that time on the memory's recordings. Soon enough they came across Bruce's view of things.

**Roll suddenly glitched, then slumping forward unconcious next to the sleeping Dr. Light.** **Deep footsteps sounded, and a tall man in an old brown coat and wide brimmed hat appeared. He sat down next to Dr. Light, who drowsily opened his eyes.**

**"Hmm...?" Dr. Light muttered, not fully awake. "Who's there?"**

**"It's me, you old man." a rough Austrian accent came from the stranger, sort of casual but also a bit sad. "You think you'd recognise a 'friend' who so nicely came to see you."**

"Wow," Mega Man exclaimed. "That voice sounds so familiar! If only he weren't wearing that hat we might be able to see who it is!"

Bass glared at Mega Man with astounded disgust. "You moron, that's Wily! That disguise is horrible and you can't see right through it? No wonder you thought that there actually was a 'Mr. X'."

**"Albert?" the memory of Dr. Light continued, and he looked at Roll with a start. "What did you do to her?"**

**"Oh relax, Tom. Nothing that will last." Wily answered calmly as he plopped into a chair. "For once I'm not trying to cause trouble."**

**"You'll forgive me if I doubt that."**

**Wily chuckled as Dr. Light sat up, looking very dizzy. "Look at you. You're about to fall apart. I thought the good guys were supposed to live longer."**

**"I've lived long enough." Tho doctor responded. "Long enough to see my work do some real good for the world."**

**At the mention of his work, Dr. Wily frowned, but kept himself composed. "You miss her, don't you?"**

"'Her'? Who is he talking about?" Bass asked.

"I'm not sure..." Mega Man answered, surprised that Dr. Light would keep a secret from him. "He never really liked talking about the past, though."

**Wily and Light talked for a few minutes about things that predated robotics, mostly their times in college, though as they talked there seemed to be a change in Wily. He seemed less and less like a visiting friend and more like the enemy that he had become, especially if Dr. Light dared mention a project of his own or something they had worked on together. In the end Wily only grew more impatient, obviously trying to get to some sort of point. Finally he began speaking in a very sinister voice.**

**"I've got things to work on, old friend," Wily spoke those last two words with no small amount of sarcasm. "But I want to leave you on your deathbed with one final thought: All you've ever done is for nothing! Already I have a plan in motion to destroy everything you worked so hard for. That bright future you wanted? It's never going to happen! I've already made certain of it! In the new age of robots, there will never be peace, only devastation!"**

Bass snarled, looking like he would tear through the monitor screen and somehow strangle his creator.

"You liar!" Mega Man yelled at the screen. "I'll make sure that never happens!"

**But in the memory, Dr Light just stared a moment at his rival, almost as if slightly confused. But then the corner of his mouth pulled itself up and he just started to laugh. It was terrible, wheezing laughter, but it was fully joyful, and broke the harshness of Wily's words like the breaking of a magic spell. Wily looked at his rival with shock, then grimaced with anger. This was obviously the opposite reaction of what he wanted, and he slunk away with embarrasment, glaring daggers at the good doctor, who only continued to laugh, cheerfully immune.**

**That was when Wily noticed that Bruce was sitting there on a side table. Before the little pipi could get away, the evil scientists had grabbed it, obscuring the view of the memory. For just a second the memory showed a strange angle from the floor, before it finally went black.**

The dark robot grinned, proud of Dr. Light's reaction, but Mega Man was more focused on the task at hand.

"This definitely happened _after _Wily was supposed to have been shot at the prison, according to both Bruce's and Roll's chronometers" the blue bomber spoke. "It looks like...Wily's still alive, escaped somewhere."

Bass cursed loudly, causing the nearby Rush to cover his ears and bark in objection. But even if Bass could understand Rush's speech, he wouldn't have cared. "That bastard! I wish Proto Man _had _killed him!"

"Don't say that!" Mega Man objected.

Before any serious arguing could begin, the blue bomber received a transmission. _" - Proto Man! - "_

_" - Rock, I've just checked the morgue. - " _Blues was nothing but serious. _" - Wily's body is not there. - "_

_" - Where there any clues to where he could have gone? - "_

_" - No. Just an angry letter to you and Bass. - "_

_" - What did it say? - "_

_" - ...Nothing worth repeating, trust me. My name might be cleared, but I'm still not trusted to investigate the escape. - "_

_" - Right! - "_

"Well, he's definitely alive!" Mega Man stated aloud. "Proto Man was just at the morgue."

"I guess I'll try to find him..." Bass seethed. Suddenly he realized something. "Er...did anyone go with Crystal Bot when she left?"

"I don't think so." Rock answered curiously. "Why?"

"Crap...she said something about trouble, but not what it was...that she could handle it."

"And you believed her?"

"_Shut up_."

They both immediately teleported into Monstropolis, guessing where they could find the girl-bot by the machine stores she liked. It was Bass and Treble who found her first, and both of them were stunned to see Crystal Bot sitting there with Albert Wily. Wily grimaced to see Bass, but Crystal Bot was only happy.

"Get away from him now!" Bass demanded.

"But he's okay now, Forte." Crystal Bot answered him. "He didn't do anything and I was gonna take him to the police station anyway."

"You can't trust him!" Bass hissed. "Now get over here!"

"He's sick, okay?" Crystal insisted earnestly, not noticing how smug Wily looked as he sat behind her. "I need to get the cops to let me take care of him!"

"Just what has he been telling you?" The dark robot snarled, going after Crystal to pull her away.

Before he got anywhere close, the mad scientist quickly grabbed her arm, jerking her towards him and jamming a chip into her zip drive. Whatever program that was on the chip got to work immediately: Crystal Bot screamed, struggling to stay upright. In the end she could only stumble towards Bass before collapsing. Wily laughed in loudly in his typically evil way, unhindered by the fact that a furious Bass was ready to pummel him.

"Treble, get her out of here." Bass hissed before addressing his former master. "You hateful bastard! I warned you about messing with my mechanic!"

"Oh, cry about it, why don't you?" Wily sneered, completely unworried about the increasingly angry robot before him. "Alright, my loyal creations, take her away!"

The purple wolf found himself surrounded by Metal Man, Heat Man, and Quick Man. And whatever else the virus on her system had done, her teleportation had been cut off. Bass was distracted by Bubble Man, Crash Man, and Wood Man, but Treble was far from helpless. He swiped at Quick Man's legs and fired his tail pulse cannon at the others, before quickly getting his nose into Crystal Bot's hood (which she always used as a pocket rather than ever pulling over her head) and activating her remote teleportation invention. She and Treble both disappeared.

"What? How did you do that?" Wily snapped.

The robots around Bass paused for him long enough to answer, though it surprised him that Wily was there so long. It wasn't like him to stay anywhere that was dangerous.

"Just something she made." Bass answered with dark pride as Treble reappeared next to him. "I don't know what you think you're trying to do, Wily, but you're never getting us back!"

Dr. Wily flinched slightly at the use of his name. Bass had always referred to him as "old man", and even though that term had never been a respectful one, it was at least indicative that Bass had some grudging admittance of his origins. But shaking that annoyance aside, Wily laughed a haughty laugh.

"'Us'?" the evil doctor questioned. "Why in the world would I want _both _of you? Crystal Bot is the intelligent one. You? Ha! What useful thing have you ever done since I ever had the misfortune to build you? You don't deserve her! You're just some pathetic mistake."

"Stop right there, Wily!" the determined, vigilant, and outright girly voice of Mega Man sounded from behind Bass, who inwardly swore to punch the blue bomber in the face if he said something stupid in his defense. "That's a horrible thing to say about your own creation!"

"Why do you think I said it?" Wily sneered.

"For your information," Mega Man continued, despite Bass' glaring at him to get him to shut up. "Bass happens to be the best thing you ever built! So if he's useless, what does that say about everything else you've done?"

The dark robot had to give Rock some credit. That wasn't too bad a comeback. Unfortunately, it had no affect on the mad scientist, other than get him to smirk. Wily turned to Bass with an amused air.

"He doesn't know, does he?" Wily taunted. "But whatever. I've got better things to do than bother with the both of you. Oh, and by the way, Mega Man, now that you've defeated all of those Cain-bots, have you realized that you skipped a step?"

There was much in that sentence to get confused about, so Mega Man didn't answer and instead equipped his super armor. He figured that Wily would say what he meant anyway.

And he did. "You forgot one little thing: the robot master rematch!"

With that, out popped all eight of Dr. Cain's robots, each looking eager to join in the battle. Signal Man, was there, his light flashing red. Sight Man was further away from the rest, but his cannon was aimed at both hero-bots, ready to attack. Emit Man glared at Bass with dark glee, and Psycho Man, with his ridiculously tall and thin legs, stood determined over them. Bullet Man and Algorythm Man were also there, smugly coming alongside the Team 2 robots. Echelon Man, in his very boring humanoid form, stood ready, eyeing Mega Man in particular. And out of the crowd of enemy robot masters, Epic Man emerged, looking half enraged and half overjoyed, resulting in in a very demented look overall.

Neither good guy was deterred. Bass, though very irritated, was actually glad for the challenge. And as for Mega Man, nothing stopped him from believing in that good would overcome, not even having to fight sixteen robots. Though he quickly sent a message to the police to make sure that they would come and make sure that the robots were contained and no uninvolved got hurt.

"Well?" Wily snapped at his platoon. "What are you waiting for? Destroy them!"

And so the sixteen robots charged, and the fight began. Flash Man, however, stayed behind just long enough for the other robots to get ahead of him, then grinned evilly as he started to activate the time stopper. However, a shot from behind interrupted him, and he turned back to see a grinning Proto Man behind him. Before he could react, the red and grey robot had knocked him down and put a blaster shot between his eyes.

"That's for framing me for murder." Proto Man remarked as he stood over the fallen robot. But before doing anything else, he called out. "Rock! This guy's not the only one that has a time freezing ability!"

Mega Man had been fighting Metal Man and Epic Man, but he managed to hear his brother. "Which one is the other?"

"It's...um..." Bass suddenly realized that he didn't know the name of that particular Cain-bot. "The one that looks like traffic lights and random junk!"

"I'm Signal Man, you jerk!" the Cain-bot yelled out.

That turned out to be a not very smart thing to do. Mega Man was able to figure out where he was from his angry shout, and he quickly equipped the power bullet to make sure he could shoot quickly enough to hit Signal Man before another robot got in his way. He fired just in time to stop Signal Man from activating an electric pulse that would immediately make the hero bots unable to move. The power bullet hit Signal Man, causing him to explode and shatter into pieces. Since he barely absorbed the impact, the power bullet went right on through and hit Bubble Man, getting rid of him as well.

"That was weak!" Bass sneered as he punched Air Man right through the fan blades. "What is Bubble Man doing out of the water anyway?"

"I know!" Mega Man optimistically said as he destroyed Crash Man. "Let's try to figure out the rest of their weaknesses!"

Mega Man was so busy trying to fight Bullet Man and Quick Man, that he didn't realize Echelon Man had gone from his boring humanoid form into his rather unoriginal wedge form, trying to sneak his echelon heatshock on Rock. But he did notice when Bass jumped behind him, his typically golden stripes now bright red. Soon Echelon Man's six wedges were floating around him lifeless and uselessly.

"Echelon Man, weak to emit shield." the dark robot noted with sinister glee.

"Heads up!" Proto Man, fresh from his victory over Metal Man, sent metal blades over at Wood Man, Bullet Man, and Quick Man.

Wood Man was taken care of and Bullet Man was hit, but Quick Man dodged completely, sending a boomerang after Proto Man and sweeping his legs out from under him. Two more yellow boomerangs hit Blues, weakening him severely. Mega Man, however, wasn't going to let him get away with that. Remembering how horrible it was to defeat Quick Man the first time, Mega Man quickly equipped the epic win, hoping it would work.

And it did. Quick Man glitched and jerked as the electromagnetic pulse hit him, leaving him open to Mega Man's buster shots. However, Sight Man, who was on top of a nearby building, kept shooting his sniping shots down at him.

"Rush!" Mega Man called out, too distracted to hit the sniper.

Quickly the red dog teleported behind Sight Man, biting him on the neck and pulling him down. That was the end of that.

Algorythm Man sought out Bass, shoving Epic Man aside in the process. "It's about time I made you learn your lesson for humiliating my siblings!"

Bass raised an eyebrow. "And...who are you exactly?"

Bristling with rage, Algorhythm Man immediately set to work hacking into the dark robot. And failed miserably. Bass' security was nigh on impenetrable to him. To make matters worse, the effort proved too much of a distraction. Bass dashed forward for a more interesting finish, equipping the psycho pulse. With one fist to the face, the orange/neon robot fell back, grimacing.

"You...I'll get you in the end...I promise..." he sneered, as his circuits began to spark. "You'll see..."

"Kind of hard to do that when you're _dead_." Bass smirked as he lifted his buster, firing the final strike.

"My turn, fin-head!" Emit Man, the sharp-nosed robot, tall and thin, approached, surrounded by his shield of sharp metal. "I hope you know that things will not be like they were last time!"

Bass folded his arms, staring down the talkative shield-bot with disdain. "How, exactly?"

"I've figured out your trick! You won't be able to get past my shield this time! You see I'm not exactly the dimmest - "

A small black bullet penetrated the shield from behind, smacking Emit Man right in the head. Before Emit Man could do anything, another bullet from nowhere hit him and put an end to his yammering. Proto Man landed near Emit Man's fallen body, his black and grey markings switching back to his normal red and grey as he dequipped the sight cannon.

"How did you know that was his weakness?"

Proto Man cracked a sideways smile. "His weakness was being an idiot."

"That's for sure." Bass snickered.

Off to the side, Dr. Wily had been watching the scene with some nonchalant merriness, as if he had some sort of secret. Cut Man, on the other hand, was getting worried. The Skull Capsule was open, waiting for Dr. Wily to get in and escape, but for once it seemed as if the mad scientist didn't want to leave. Wily had never been one much to watch battles, especially if his side was losing, and Cut Man had no clue what to make of this change.

"Dr. Wily, the ship is ready." The cutter-bot urged. "The longer we stay the more likely we'll be caught!"

"Shut up and stop bothering me!" Wily turned from the fight long enough to snap at his guard. "It doesn't matter how this battle turns out."

"I...I don't understand."

"You're not supposed to." Wily smiled fatefully, not without a sense of bitterness as he returned to watching the fight.

Cut Man cringed. Normally the Team 1 robots had been a bit more privy to Wily's plans, particularly he and Guts Man, before the latter robot's posterior had become Rock's very disturbing Christmas present. Not that they had known everything, but it wasn't like Wily to keep so much to himself. The old scientist had become more inward since his escape from prison, but there was nothing for Cut Man to do about it besides loyally guard his master from any hero that came too close.

Proto Man was getting anxious. He could hear the sound of sirens, and he knew they would establish a non-teleportation zone soon. If he stayed too long, he would be trapped. That, and despite his new power core, he was still on the edge of obsolete. He had to get out. But Mega Man knew all this, and he nodded at his brother in understanding.

"I'm going to look for Wily." Proto Man said before teleporting out. He wasn't going to

Quick Man went down, taken out by purple buster shots. Bass grinned, grateful for his rapid-fire abilities. "Alright, let's see, the most powerful Cain weapon is the echelon heatshock, and the most powerful robot master of his is Epic Man."

The midnight-blue robot laughed. "Oh, I'm impressed. And flattered! It's so nice to have a logical foe!"

"Shut up and fight!"

"As you wish!"

Now this robot was tricky. The downside to Bass' rapid fire shots was their general weakness. He quickly switched over to his crystal busters, double-firing as he tried to get Epic Man into a position where the heatshock would be more likely to get him. But Epic Man was smart and very uncooperative. Dodging this way and that as he fired his homing shots, Epic Man made it very clear that he wasn't going to be taken down by the heatshock easily.

"Dang it, stay still!" Bass snarled.

"Now, as my opponent, I was thinking that you're supposed to make me." Epic Man taunted.

Mega Man, on his way to get Psycho Man with the epic win weapon, crossed in front of Bass by accident. The dark robot smacked him in the neck and pushed him away.

"Stay out of my way, Rock!"

"Sorry!"

Bass barely noticed as Psycho Man shattered in a shower of sparks. Instead his red eyes glared evily at Epic Man, whose own gaze back was rather determined and focused.

"What are you waiting for?" Epic Man remarked. "Savoring that last bit of life?"

As soon as the words passed his lips, the evil robot suddenly found that all of his senses had scattered, and he was blinded for several seconds. Stumbing forward blindly, he fell helpessly on the ground. As his sight managed to clear a bit, Epic Man found that Mega Man was standing over him, and he had the echelon heatshock equipped.

The whole thing was very clever to Epic Man. "Why, you little cheat! I'm a bit shocked, Mega Man! I always thought you were so honest!"

Two of the homing shots hit Mega Man in the stomach, but he was still undaunted. Not even the deft maneuverings of Epic Man could stop the blue bomber, and it wasn't long before the echelon heatshock hit him again, and Epic Man was down.

"Alright," Mega Man looked around carefully. "Who do we have left? Oh no...where's Heat Man?"

Without warning, Heat Man's barely recognisable face fell at Mega Man's feet. He looked up, finding Treble chewing over the remains of the zippo lighter machine. The wolf barked at him before going back to contentedly knaw on Heat Man's remaining armor.

During that time, it actually took Proto Man a surprising while to find Wily. He was expecting Wily to have tried to escape, and for a moment he feared that the madman wouldn't be found. In fact it was Mega Man who found Wily first, less than a block away from where the fight had been. He immediately approached, buster ready, as Proto Man and Bass appeared behind him. However, something was amiss. Wily was collapsing, clutching at his heart with a horrible grimace. Cut Man tried to hold him up, and glowered at Mega Man.

"Can't you see there's something wrong with him?" Cut Man snapped. "Leave him alone!"

"You...you're not lying, are you?" Mega Man questioned. Despite how in pain Wily looked, the blue bomber was too aware of their history to completely give in. "Look, I'm sure there's an ambulance nearby-"

This was not acceptable to Wily, who immediately growled and shook off Cut Man's support. "How did you do that?" Wily yelled at the three heroes. "You were too outnumbered!"

"You can't defeat us, Wily!" Mega Man confidently affirmed. "We're a team! Together we're unstoppable, no matter what you throw at us!"

Proto Man's eye's widened curiously, and he looked at his brother with an amazed look, wondering when they had become a team. He couldn't help but glance sideways at Bass, glad that from that angle the dark robot couldn't tell that he was looking at him. Bass, however, was less reluctant to show his feelings. He glared at both of the Light brothers, not liking the whole team idea, especially with two of the three people that irritated him the most.

The first of those three, of course Wily, spoke up again with a hideous grin. "_Really_? Are you sure about that?"

The evil doctor shuddered again, clasping his heart in pain. Cut Man tried to help, only to have his master snap, "What are you waiting for? Get them!"

Frightened for his master, Cut Man nonetheless obeyed. There was no way his programming would allow him anything else. Cut Man's blade went after Mega Man just as soon as he was far away enough from his master to prevent him from being hurt. Rock, however, easily dodged it. He had fought Cut Man before, and it hadn't been too hard the first time. And that was before Mega Man had been upgraded over the years. Proto Man didn't feel any need to help him, so he went over to the Skull Capsule to destroy it.

"Alright, that's the last one!" Mega Man exclaimed as he held up his buster as he stood over the remains of Cut Man.

"Hey Rock," Bass said in a strange voice. "How do you tell if someone's dead?"

Mega Man immediately rushed over to Bass, and who was holding a perfectly still Wily. The old scientist lay in his creation's dark arms, looking more disheveled than ever. Though he had been lively just two minutes ago, Wily was the opposite: all of the color that was left in the old man's face had gone away completely, even from his eyes, leaving nothing but the pasty grey of his skin and hair. Bass' question was a good one; robots don't have a sense of touch, and without that they couldn't feel a pulse. Mega Man sent a transmission to the nearby emergency medical workers, but it was his guess that there was nothing they could do.

He glanced over at Bass. The dark robot had never been very good at hiding his emotions, but from the having so many at once his expression was somewhat indeterminable. His eyes twitched with anger, and his fanged grimace showed as he held his faded creator, though Mega Man could have sworn he saw at least some sadness. Some medical workers showed up, and Bass laid Dr. Wily out on their stretcher. As they got to work trying to revive him, Bass immediately walked away several steps, angrily kicking Cut Man's head and almost ripping it off in one hit.

"Bass...are you okay?"

As foolish as it might have been to speak to someone so angry, Mega Man tried anyway. He was never one to back down from anything, especially not when someone was unhappy. To his surprise, Bass didn't lash out at him.

"I hate him, Rock." he hissed, his red eyes seeming to glow with rage. "I hate him so much. Why did _he _have to create me?"

It broke Mega Man's heart to see him like that. All at once the blue bomber's memories of his own creator's kindness came to mind, and he couldn't imagine going on without the care and concern he'd had over the years. And Bass had had nothing but expectations and derision. Rock could only guess what Wily must have said for his last words. From Bass' reaction, it could only have been something terrible.

Even though the non-teleportation field had already been set up, Proto Man was not tense. Already he had disappeared into the side of a nearby building, ready to make his escape. He couldn't help noting the irony that they had only managed to successfully set it up after all of the enemy robots had gone. Not feeling much better than Bass, Proto Man silently seethed. He hated running from the police, especially since the charges of murder against Wily would be dismissed. But he still couldn't stay there. He had his secrets, dark ones. But they would remain secrets, and Proto Man stealthily departed, unseen by all.

"I have to check on Sonata." Bass muttered suddenly. "She _better_ be alright."

Though he had spoken as if to the blue bomber, it looked like Bass had forgotten that Mega Man was there, and he started a moment when Rock answered him. "Okay, I'll get the paperwork on this one."

"Erm, yeah, thanks. I'll send the cops a report later."

Bass got on Treble jet, leaving Rock to his own thoughts. Turning back, he watched the medical workers as they started to do what little they could, but it was becoming more and more clear how far gone Wily was. Mega Man wanted to be relieved that this conflict was finally over, but he couldn't. He just couldn't stand there and be hateful, even now, towards the evil Doctor Albert Wily. He wished that things could have been different, that Wily of his own accord would have chosen to abandon his evil ways. But now it was too late. Mega Man solemnly bowed his head.

\\\\\\\\

Author's notes:

- I was being a weirdo, and I was just thinking about rehashed Team 1 names: Cute Man, Gusto Man, Elect Man, Fired Man, and Nice Man. Lol. I couldn't think of any good parody names for Bomb Man. Bomb-omb Man...Ick, no. Comb Man? Lol. I think Gusto Man would be something like a cook.

- Yep, the Cain-bots all have weaknesses. Here they are:

Echelon - weak to emit shield because it eliminates his ability to control himself.

Emit - weak to sight cannon, because the cannon's projectile, which is faster than a normal buster, can pierce his shield.

Sight - weak to signal shot, because it prevents him from manuevering in his usual ninja manner.

Signal - just plain weak, but especially to the power bullet because it pwns him. A note on the power bullet, it goes through all enemies you hit it with, up to three. Even robot masters.

Bullet - weak to the algorhythm dynamo, because it interferes with his ability to fire his weaponry. He's also vulnerable to the napalm bomb.

Algorythm - weak to the psycho pulse, which saps him of his power.

Psycho - weak to the epic win, because it completely annihilates his weapon, as well as making his arms fall off (they are held on by energy alone).

Epic - weak to echelon heatshock, as it makes his abilities go against himself. Note that the heatshock is a great weapon against all electrical foes, as their electric weapons will turn against themselves when the heatshock is used.

- Oh, btw, Treble got a blaster installed in his tail. It was in the end of Okkusenman, just thought I'd mention it here for those who haven't read that story.

And now to finish off the Cain robot masters' profiles!

====Signal Man  
**"I'll make a change!"  
Good point: happy  
Bad point: pathetic  
Likes: video games  
Dislikes: basketball**

Signal Man doesn't really like any sports, but his least favorite is basketball because he's lousy at jumping. He's a very cheerful robot, and usually ends up getting all of the jobs the other robot masters don't want to do, or things that don't require fighting. He's never jealous, however, as Dr. Cain specifically made them all to not have bad attitudes. Fortunately he is one of the more intelligent Cain-bots, so he doesn't feel completely useless. He was the last robot master that Dr. Cain built, and since Cain was impatient, Signal Man is the weakest in most every way, though his gimmicks of being able to both slow down and freeze enemies makes him useful in larger battles.

====Emit Man  
**"You can't get past my shield!"  
Good point: daring  
Bad point: chatty  
Likes: acting  
Dislikes: lowbrow humor**

Emit Man thinks he's all that and a bag of chips, and he'd love to explain to you why you are wrong about everything. He gets a kick out of proving people wrong, especially in artistic and clever ways, and his favorite part of movies is where the hero gives a long and important speech. He considers himself to be a hero, ironically, as his fervor for Dr. Cain's "get rid of robots" idea is the greatest out of all of his siblings, even Epic Man. He envisioned his death being one long speech about the importance of humanity before he self-destructs, ending as the tragic hero of a grand story.

====Psycho Man  
**"You had better flee, you miniscule flea!"  
Good point: fun guy  
Bad point: insane  
Likes: having fun  
Dislikes: negativity**

Psycho Man loves to do just about anything. Play sports, play video games, kick random things, steal a car, sing songs, build a house, blow up that same house...really, anything. If he weren't under the Cain agenda, he might not be such a bad guy, though immature. He also likes to rhyme, and can't stand scornful or disdainful people. He's not a particularly deep thinker, but when he tries, only insane new fun things result (which aren't fun to anyone else, usually). Good friends with Algorhythm Man. Usually gets sent to do the harshest jobs, as he has no morals. He has the ability to turn his arms into a mini-clown, which he loves to use for pranks. One of Cain's favorite robots.

====Echelon Man  
**"..."  
Good point: unassuming  
Bad point: boring  
Likes: flying  
Dislikes: talking**

Echelon Man is very quiet, and doesn't mind being around people, so long as he's not expected to talk much or about anything he doesn't care for. Most Cain-bots got the short stick in one way or another because of Dr. Cain's impatient construction, and Echelon Man's short stick was a lack of personality AI. He doesn't experience any strong emotions, other than some ability to care for others, sorrow, and a peace that only comes to him when he flies in his six wedge segments. He enjoys observing people just to watch and see what they do and why. Of all of them, he's the least interested in Dr. Cain's agenda, but he does not disobey.


	15. Or So They Thought

Rock and Rush got back to the lab, done with the paperwork. One of the things Mega Man liked best about being a robot is that he wasn't expected to spend hours over it, and in times of trouble he could just hand over a chip with his memories of a battle copied on it, which was what he expected Bass to do. Mega Man went to the main lab, where the others were sure to be gathered.

Just as he expected, some were. An activated but unconscious Crystal Bot lay on one of the repair tables, her wide open eyes twitching as the battle between the virus and her anti-viruses ensued. Auto stood over her, trying to asess the damage and do what he could, but from his worried look and hasty actions at the table's console, things didn't appear optimistic. Bass was likewise upset, and he sat a small distance away, trying to distract himself by reading through a set of old encyclopedias. They didn't appear to help. Every so often, the dark robot would look upwards at his technician, only to swear quietly as he saw that her condition was unchanged. Then he would would go right back to his book, even less patient than before.

Treble was at his feet, still chewing on a piece of Heat Man. Mega guessed that it was a hand, but from its extensive chew damage, there was no real way to tell. Rush, too friendly for his own good, walked over to the other canine machine. Rush barked happily, only to get a violent _**WOOF **_in reply. Rush, however, wasn't daunted. He barked back twice, and this seemed to work. Treble growled, not in anger or disdain, but it seemed the equivalent of a shrug. The red dog wagged his tail and sat down next to Treble, who let Rush have another segment of the unfortunate zippo lighter robot to chew on.

Mega Man looked around the room. "Hey Bass, where's Roll and Proto Man?"

"Eh, Roll's around here somewhere. Proto Man hasn't come back." Putting down his book, the dark robot looked at the blue bomber with expectation. "Well?"

"Wily's definitely dead this time. He couldn't be resuscitated."

"Good." Bass said with a firm tinge of hatred, going back to his reading. "The world's a better place now."

Mega Man could see the pain in Bass' eyes. As much as he tried to hide it behind relief and an "R" encyclopedia, Rock could tell exactly how frustrated his new ally was, and he felt sympathy for him. But there was another matter to deal with, the sooner the better. He had to ask, no matter how much it annoyed the black and gold fighter.

"Bass...what did Wily mean when he said 'he doesn't know', as if there was still something up his sleeve? What don't I know? Did Wily build another powerful robot?"

Forte cringed, impatiently slamming the book down as he knew he wouldn't be getting further any time soon. "Yeah, that's what I've been after in Russia."

"Then why didn't you tell me? If this robot is that dangerous, then I should know about it."

Bass rolled his eyes at Mega Man's deep concern. "It's not anything I can't handle. Besides, if you're that upset about it, you can ask _Proto Man_ why _he_ didn't tell you."

With shock, the blue bomber exclaimed, "Blues knew about it?"

"Yeah. He must have had a good reason."

That disturbed him. What reason could Proto Man possibly have for speaking up? "Well...I know now, so you might as well tell me more."

"Fine. He's a bassnium powered robot with an electric beam sword. He's supposed to replace me, kill you, and kill Mega Man X. He's buried somewhere and Russia was my last lead on where he could be, and I don't think Wily ever knew that I figured that out. Oh, and his name is Zero, and he has long hair like a chick."

"Zero?" Mega Man questioned. "That's a strange name for a robot."

"Wily designed his robots drunk. You can't expect any of that crap to make sense."

"You know all of that, and you didn't think to tell me?"

"They didn't want Dr. Light to have to worry about it." Crystal Bot spoke up. "Because Dr. Light was...wasn't doing so good, and they didn't want him worrying about some bad guy for his last days. That's what Forte-kun told me, anyway. That does sound like a reason why Proto Man wouldn't tell you, too."

Sitting up on the table, Crystal Bot swung her legs over the side and started kicking them contentedly over the side, expecting the conversation to go on. But once she noticed them looking at her, she was confused. It took her a moment to realize why they were so surprised.

"Oh! You dorks." she shook her head in mock annoyance. "I knew at some point I'd have to face a virus like that, and I'm engineered to do an automatic systems restoration in case of emergency. Though that was a scary virus right there, but I could handle it! Oh hey, Forte, you've got that upgrade in your head too. Isn't it so cool?"

When she looked at her boss, she immediately stopped, stunned. His enraged scowl was focused directly at her, and his expression only got more angry as he approached. "This shouldn't have happened to you at all. From now on, _always _do what I tell you to do. Have you learned your lesson?"

"Nope!" she announced with much giggling. "I sure haven't!"

Before Bass could start to get really mad, she quickly added, "No wait, listen a sec! That virus wasn't designed to kill me, just make me go back with Wily for a specific purpose." At that point, she began grinning ear to ear, leaning forward schemishly as she went on. "And that purpose was to _complete Zero_."

"Wait..." Bass immediately stopped scolding. "That means..."

"That I know exactly where Zero is!" she triumphantly exclaimed as she sent Bass a transmission of the coordinates and other useful data she had in her head. "And now you can take that jerk out forever!"

Bass' face lit up with true dark joy, and he already converted both hands to busters. "Treble! Let's go!"

"In that case," Mega Man said, wanting to help but convinced that Bass would be insulted if he volunteered to go along. "I'll go on an extra patrol here. I don't think that the other Wily-bots are going to stay quiet once they hear what happened tonight. Good luck!"

"Forget luck, I don't need it!" the dark robot's fangs had never gleamed brighter.

"I'm with Forte!" Crystal Bot exclaimed happily. "Yes! I get to watch a super cool fight!"

"Um, sorry, sweetie." Auto shook his head. "Looks like you're staying here with me. Your automatic repair programs might be appear to work now, but I want to check your head for any hidden programs just in case. It's my job, you know!"

"No way! Come on, I missed seeing you guys beat up Team 2 and the stupid Cain-bots, so please let me watch this!"

She looked at Bass as if to get permission, but that wasn't happening. His nose wrinkled with contempt. "Sonata, haven't you gotten yourself in enough trouble tonight?"

She glared at him and he glared right back, the two looking evily into each others' eyes for a minute.

"Okay, fine, you're the boss." Crystal Bot flung her hands up in the air, giving up. "But you better record the fight so I can see it, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Come on, Treble, let's go!" Bass impatiently said before teleporting out.

Mega Man and Rush left as well, leaving a very disappointed Crystal Bot sitting on the repair table. She grumpily folded her arms, unhappily letting Auto finish his scans.

-t-

Bass arrived somewhere in Canada, in a far north rural area with no houses in sight. It had taken him a while to get there, as direct teleportation from one country to another is illegal, even two adjacent countries. Bass was forced to register with some Canadian border guards, as he was still on probation and sneaking into a country would definitely not go over well. He started to wish Mega Man had come, only if to make the Canadian authorities less suspicious. But fortunately Mega Man had left a message with someone, and Bass was finally allowed in.

And that was how he ended up searching a cave at the coordinates that Crystal Bot had given him. The cave's multiple caverns, winding pathways, and treacherous footing made Bass very glad that he was a robot and not a human. Getting around was tricky enough as it was. It took them an hour already, but finally Treble, who was going on ahead of his master, barked in the darkness that he had found something. Bass approached, and sure enough the purple dog's find was what they were looking for: a small skull with vaguely iridescent eyes.

"Good boy."

Treble wagged his tail as Bass pushed the button. A large chunk of the rock wall slid to the side, and it revealed a narrow, mechanical passageway. A few meager lights lit the empty hall, leaving the place with a spooky and cold atmosphere. Not that Bass noticed. He and his wolf simply went down it, ready at any moment for some random mechaniloid or robot master to pop out and attack. But not so much as a sound interrupted them. Until they reached the exact middle, then without warning plasma guns emerged from the walls.

"Now this is what I'm talking about!"

Bass's hideous laughter rang out just as the plasma shots did, and both machines immediately jumped out of the way of the line of fire. Not all of the pellets were avoidable, but Bass made a good job of it, gleefully taking out cannon by cannon as his wolf did the same. And in the end, the auto-cannons were silenced, but Bass' laughter continued.

"That was fun. Now I'm warmed up for the _real _fight."

At the end of the hall a large, titanium-reinforced door blocked the way. But Wily had included a password for the door on the virus he put on Crystal, so getting past that was a snap. A surprisingly small room was waiting for him on the other side. Both walls to the left and right were covered in electronics, and Bass inserted an UltraStore disc and downloaded the data of the computers onto it before heading to the capsule in the back of the room.

This capsule was huge. The large, grey cylinder dwarfed the supercomputers easily, and it had no glass to see inside. A horrible thought occured to Bass, that there might be something stupid inside, like a scathing message from Wily, rather than the true opponent he wanted.

"I swear if this is another of his sick jokes..."

But Bass readied himself anyway, inputting another code to get the capsule to open. It did with a _whoosh_, revealing that in fact there was a giant, awkward-looking robot within. Zero lay there with his eyes closed, looking somewhat peaceful for a Wily-bot. He didn't automatically activate, so the dark robot took a moment to inspect his would-be replacement, now that he had the chance.

The thing that surprised him the most was that Crystal Bot had only been half right about him. Certainly Zero was ugly, with his odd helmet design (were those supposed to be wings on his head?), mis-matched colors on the details his awkward body, and long, golden blonde hair that reached to the back of his knees. If Bass hadn't already heard Zero referred to as a "he", then he might have been suspicious what exactly Wily was trying to build. And yet somehow, despite all of this, it worked. Zero was tacky, but it fit, and somehow made him look almost intimidating. It was like Bass' own headfins; on anyone else, they might have looked stupid, but Bass' frightening image in the past had discouraged anyone, especially humans, from accusing him of being unsightly.

There was something about Zero that contradicted the strangeness of his own design. Maybe it was his face, a strong, determined face that seemed incapable of fear or doubt. Or maybe it was the fact that he was more than a head taller than the robot that stood over him. Bass shuddered. Why was his mind doing that? He didn't care if Zero was ugly or if Zero was the next candidate for Miss America. That robot was going to be a scrapheap.

Bass reached over and pushed a button on Zero, activating him.

"Come on!" the dark robot snarled. "Fight me!"

And...nothing. Zero didn't move at all, and there was nothing electronic that indicated he had any power at all.

"Is he really this incomplete?" Bass couldn't believe it, and he cursed a curse so disgusting that it would kill a puppy (though fortunately no puppy was near enough to hear it). "This sucks!"

Rage built up in Bass. He couldn't stand to see that stupid, unmoving face, one that looked so much like Wily's (and his own, if he'd noticed), so he promptly punched it in. One crater wasn't enough so he began hammering away at the cold visage until the secret robot was unrecognisable. Bass continued punching Zero and ripping out all of his circuitry, making sure that as little as possible was still in intact. Finally he blasted the CPU one last time and stood over the remains with some satisfaction.

Pulling the UltraStore disc from the computer, Bass decided that he had enough. He set the little room to self destruct (why did all of Wily's buildings have that option?) before teleporting outside with Treble. The wolf barked a question.

Bass shrugged. "Maybe we should have told the Canadian government first, but meh, I don't care. We'll just say we got rid of some Wily crap and it's over with now."

At that moment, the cave shook, and the entire landscape shook with it. Grim but smiling, Bass looked back one last time.

"So long..._brother..._"

-t-

Mega Man didn't know what he expected to find. All he could tell himself was that somehow that battle could not have been the last of Wily. It just couldn't be. And yet all the same, the city was as quiet and peaceful as it ever had been - when robots weren't on the rampage. There was nothing to see or do, so he found himself looking instead for his brother. But that only happened when Proto Man wanted to be found.

Fortunately, that was the case. As Mega Man and Rush flew over the alleyways that constituted Proto Man's usual Monstropolis haunts, there the red and grey robot was below them, calmly waiting. Rush brought his companion down, and Rock stepped down into the street. Proto Man seemed solemn and put together as ever, though over time Mega Man had learned to read him. Now Blues seemed somehow reluctant, as far as he could guess.

"Rock."

"Blues." Mega Man began with uncertainty. "Aren't you going to come home to the lab?

"I don't think so."

"But...why?"

For a while, no answer came. Proto Man stared a bit at his feet before he finally opened his mouth.

"Even after everything, Rock, I don't think I can stay. Old habits die hard." Proto Man finally said. "I can't be like you, Rock. I can't stay in one place for so long. It just doesn't feel right. And...there's more to it than that. I might be cleared of the charges against Wily, but the government has other reasons to want to find me. Most of them are legitimate ones."

"What could you have possibly done that couldn't be forgiven?" Mega Man asked, his innocent eyes looking more sad by the moment. "I'm sure I could talk to them, and you would be pardoned. I know that back in your early years you went astray, but that was so long ago! Please, let me help you."

"I can't tell you why that's not possible." Blues answered, still remaining in control of himself. "I've done a lot I'm not proud of, and it would only hurt you if you knew. This is really for the best."

"You can't hide forever."

"I know." Blues agreed, solemnly nodding. "Maybe some day in the future I'll be able to face it. But for now, thank you. For everything. If...if it weren't for you and Roll...even Bass..." he paused, uncertain of his next words. Rush went up to him, and Proto Man rubbed between the dog's ears before continuing. "I used to think that I was strong for being able to face the death my power core doomed me to. But now I know that I was weak: too weak to face life. Now that I have another chance, well, I think you'll be seeing me more often."

That was wonderful news to Mega Man, and Blues sheepishly turned up one side of his mouth.

"What is it you do all the time when you're gone, Blues?"

Proto Man's grin got slightly larger, but he said nothing.

"Okay, fine, keep your secrets." Rock said with a chortle. "But I really wish...I really wish you would stay here and fight with me. It would be wonderful to have you around."

Proto Man's mood dimmed, and his grin faded into a more ironic look, though not unamused. "Sorry, little brother. I can't be like you. I'm not strong enough."

"What are you talking about? Even without upgrades you held your own against those sixteen robots. You're really smart."

The other robot shook his head. "That's not what I meant. You're an amazing fighter, Rock, not only because you're strong, but because you have faith. You believe that good will always win, and I think that's why _you_ always win. You always had that strength...I never did. I was always jealous of you, even from the beginning when you were first built. Seeing you fight Team 1 so long ago, it looked like you became everything I should have been in the first place...what I failed to be."

Mega Man couldn't let that go unanswered, refusing to let Proto Man speak that way of himself. "Now wait just a minute. How can you say that? I'd have been dead...I don't know how many times if it weren't for you. I don't know why you think Dr. Light built you, but every since I met you you've only done good for the world. You're caring and you know right from wrong. I believe in my heart that you turned out exactly how you were meant to. The doctor was always so proud of you, and never for a second did he regret creating you."

It seemed that everything Mega Man ever said put a smile on his face. Proto Man couldn't help but admire his sibling, wondering how in the world he had ever hated his little brother. But that was long ago, buried deep in the past with his darkest sins. He was not going to confess them any time soon, especially not to someone as innocent as Rock.

"So what are you going to do now?" Mega Man asked.

"Some investigating." Proto Man answered. "I want to find out a little more about our mother."

Mega Man was taken aback. "You know about Ayumu? Dr. Light barely mentioned anything about her...I don't think he liked talking about anything that happened to him before he became a robotics engineer. It was too hard for him."

"Crystal Bot found some sketches drawn by her in Dr. Light's journals. She also found this."

Proto Man pulled out the picture of a young Thomas Light and Azuma Ayumu. Mega Man took it curiously.

"This is such a sweet picture." Mega Man mentioned as he gazed at the happy couple. "I wish we could have met her."

He returned the picture to Blues, who started to look like he was ready to leave. "I'll be seeing you, Rock."

"Wait!" Mega Man placed his hand on Proto Man's arm. "There's one more thing back at the lab that you should see. Auto and Crystal Bot have a surprise waiting for you there. Please come and see it first."

Proto Man had to smile again. How could he say no?

"Alright, I'll take a look."

-t-

Back at the lab, Crystal Bot and Auto were gathered into the hangar bay, where something large and looming was covered in a blanket. They each tittered and tinkered over the item underneath, trying to get it to perfection and seemingly unable to get there. Not that that bothered them, or even worried them for a moment. Proto Man was coming, and they wanted it to be they best they could before he arrived. Roll was nearby, watching eagerly, joining in on the giggles. Bass, who as usual didn't care, stood to the side with an air of boredom, his nose stuck in the encyclopedia where he had left off before.

The door opened, and Mega Man's own eyes widened as he saw the mysterious, hidden object before them. Proto Man's expression was indeterminable, but Mega Man guessed that he was at least a little surprised. But Rock was the one surprised to see the dark robot leaning against the wall.

"Wow, I wasn't expecting you to be back before me. How did the fight go?" the bomber asked, not admitting that he didn't expect Bass to come back without serious injury, possibly shipped back in a crate. Not that he doubted Bass' abilities, he just knew the dark robot's passion was great. He wouldn't give up until he had given his all, and there was no telling how difficult Zero would be to defeat.

Bass looked out sideways from his book, lifting one lip in a sneer. "It didn't. Like Crystal Bot said, he was nowhere near finished. It sucked."

"Oh, well at least you're alright."

"Whatever." the dark robot clearly failed to see any silver lining. "Find anything on your end? Or did the those robot masters run off like the morons that they are?"

"There was no one. I really hope I don't have to spend the next year hunting all of them down, though at least we took out Dr. Wily's mechaniloids when we attacked Skull Island. Maybe the masters will give themselves up and become normal robots in society."

"Yeah, and maybe Wily will come back from the dead and be elected president." Bass retorted, going back to his book in the hope that Mega Man would leave him alone.

And Mega Man did. He was more interested in seeing Proto Man's reaction to the gift anyway, and the huge blanket hadn't been pulled off yet. Crystal Bot was telling one of her ridiculous stories to occupy Proto Man while Auto finished one last detail.

"And _then_...it blew up!" The girl-bot exuberantly cheered. "It's was so pretty!"

Proto Man didn't think explosives were that interesting. Still, the manner in which she told it was at least amusing, so he let her go on, his face only showing the most faint signs of confusion or disturbance as more odd details appeared in her story.

"It's finished!" Auto announced. "Come on, Roll, Crystal! Help me get this off!"

The three each grabbed a corner of the blanket. Counting to three, they tugged at it, and in an instant the covering fell away. Inside was an aircraft, a jet painted red and grey. Proto Man approached it, examining every sharp angle of the craft, noticing that it was designed for both speed and manueverings. It was a fighter jet, but had no insignia whatsoever. Blues was no expert in aerial science, but he could tell that it was designed to be blind to radar.

"I thought of this at Christmas when you weren't there, Proto-kun." Crystal Bot said. "I know you don't like cute animal assistants like the rest of us, 'cause you're a loner weirdo, but this'll help you get around easy! Besides that, you're designed like to look like an aviator, so you need a plane of course! I started it right when I got back to Russia, and got the parts here later so me and Auto finished it together. He's so smart about airplanes!"

"I look like an aviator?"

"Yeah, sure. Look at your helmet. And then the scarf and the visor too. I bet Dr. Light wanted you to be a superhero fighter pilot!"

"We just barely finished it in time to show you!" Auto joined in. "It's fueled and everything! It's equipped with the latest detection technology, and it's even pressurized in case you ever need to bring along a human passenger. I've just been bursting at the bolts to keep it a secret the past week! Do you like it?"

"It's wonderful." Proto Man answered sincerely. "But I can't accept this."

The happy faces of the others faded into a mix of shock and disappointment as Blues continued. "I'm sorry, I know how hard you must have worked, but if the law were to find out, then all of you would be in trouble for aiding me. You can't even tell anyone that you repaired my power core without putting yourselves at risk of being an accessory to my escape."

"Blues, I think you're taking it a bit too seriously." Mega Man approached him, shaking his head. "So maybe the law has some things against you. I've met a lot of people in the government, and none of them hate you...most of them don't anyway. They see you for who you really are. Whatever you've been in the past, they don't see that anymore. Even the people that aren't sure about you personally don't believe you to be any kind of threat. I'm sure anyone would know that you deserve leniency."

"Yeah, and there's a statute of limitations on crimes." Crystal Bot added, not very helpfully. "Just wait it out and then nobody can do anything to you! There was this guy who hid away in North Korea for years and years until his statute of limitations on deserting the army was up. Since you're gonna live now you can wait and be okay."

As disturbing as that bit of advice was, Proto Man thought it almost funny. "All the same, you should keep this to yourself."

"So you're going to take it?" Auto waited eagerly for a response.

"...I guess I can't let it go to waste."

Happily Auto began showing Proto Man all of the specifics of the craft and how it was flown, and Mega Man tagged along, more for the chance to hang out one last time with his only older sibling. Crystal Bot went over to Bass with curiousity.

"Hey Forte-kun, do you want me to build you one of those?"

Bass closed the encyclopedia. "No. Treble's way better than that thing, and with your teleporters I won't need one anyway. Are you done here?"

"Done with what?"

"This waste of time, putting Bruce back together...everything."

"Giving Proto Man a present is not a waste of time." Crystal Bot rolled her eyes. "But yeah, I'm done. I didn't have time to get Bruce really upgraded like I wanted to while you were out, but he's back together for now and I guess I can work on him more on the space station."

Bass started. "Space station? What would you want to go there for?"

"Uh...because my team is there? Aren't I going back?"

"What do you take me for, some kind of liar?" Bass retorted. "Or did you forget that I said we'd go traveling the world after Zero was destroyed? Besides, in a few days there's going to be this robotics convention in Japan and I thought you'd like to go."

The girl-bot's smile slowly grew into a clever grin. "Oh, I get you. You just want me to keep upgrading you, right?"

"And you have a problem with that because...?"

"I don't! Yay for science!" she squealed, jumping excitedly. "I'm gonna make you the toughest robot the world has ever known! Go Team Forte!"

Bass' dark eyes revealed more of his joy then his widening mouth. Crystal Bot was so easy to control, so enthusiastic. He was going to have to think of a way to get Wave Man to let him keep her around permanently. But for now he would let her stay as long as she was willing to follow him.

"Alright, let's go. Treble!" Bass called out. "Get over here!"

The purple wolf had been chasing the newly put together Bruce around the room, entertaining himself by running after and trying to catch the little brown bird-bot. But once called, but Treble and his playmate went over to their masters obediently. Roll noticed this, and she also noticed that Proto Man was about to enter the jet and take off himself.

"Hey everyone! Aren't you forgetting something?"

All eyes turned to the girl-bot in red, and the robots they belonged to all cringed to various degrees, knowing that the mothering nature in Roll was about to show itself. And it surely did. Roll placed her hands on her hips and spoke.

"I think you're all forgetting a very important law. So we're not going to turn Proto Man in, but that doesn't mean that we're going to let ourselves be undisciplined and forget it altogether. And that means deleting those robot master weapons. Might as well get it over with now."

"What?" Bass immediately objected. "That's retarded! Having these powers would make it easier to defeat any other new threats! If Rock had just kept Metal Man's power from when he first defeated that guy, he wouldn't have had any more trouble from those idiot 'masters'."

"The law's the law, Bass, and we have to follow it." Mega Man said, accepting this obligation as cheerfully as he always did. "And I think Wily would have come up with some way to stop Metal Man's blades in any case, and the abilities would encourage him to come up with more dangerous robots. Besides, without Wily, who are we going to use these powers against?"

"Will this require some sort of authorized inspection?" Proto Man asked. "I'm willing to delete the algorythm dynamo and the sight cannon, but I refuse to subject myself to a government search."

Bass was tempted to continue the debate, but as Proto Man and Mega Man spoke to each other, a little flicker of light interfered with his vision. Turning to look where it had come from he saw Crystal Bot, who had been "accidentally" reflecting light from the orb of her tiara to get his attention. She ever so subtly winked before casually picking up one of the encyclopedias and pretending that she was interested in it. Bass blinked for a moment, acting he hadn't seen anything relevant.

"Erg, fine, whatever. If that's what the law says..." Bass shrugged like he was giving in. "I'm deleting it now, and I'll reformat."

"I'm afraid there's more to it than that: you're going to have to wait for Agent Reyes to inspect you."

"Probation _sucks_."

"And Proto Man, I trust you." Mega Man didn't even have to say it. His eyes said it all for him. "All weapons are supposed to be deleted thirty days after the robot masters they came from have been defeated, so as long as it's before then, it's fine."

Proto Man nodded. "I'm already starting the deletion now."

"Are you going to leave, Blues?" A sad Roll asked.

"Yes. Don't worry, I'll be back." he comforted his sister. "I made the mistake of abandoning you before, and I won't make it again. If you don't see me sooner...know that I'll be here for Christmas."

Though not a particularly affectionate robot, Proto Man let his sister hug him, and he hugged back, embracing Mega Man next and putting up with a clumsy hug from Auto. And of course Crystal Bot had to get one in, and Bass nodded at the red and grey robot in a way that was half tolerant. As Blues climbed into the Proto Jet, his thoughts were filled with fondness. He realized that it was his own doing that separated him from them, and a new guilt filled him as he watched the others clear away so that the jet could take off. Rock and Roll were so innocent compared to him, so innocent that perhaps they wouldn't understand why he couldn't stay.

**"You can't defeat us, Wily!"** Proto Man reaccessed the memory of his brother's last retort to the evil doctor. **"We're a team! Together we're unstoppable, no matter what you throw at us!"**

But Mega Man was wrong. They weren't a team, and they never could be. A deep regret filled Proto Man as he watched his companions.

_I'm sorry, Rock...I doubt there is a statute of limitations on murder..._

Proto Man's siblings waving to him, and he waved back, glad that all of this regrets and fears were hidden behind his shaded visor. They both looked happy. Their brother had told them that he would return, and Proto Man had every intention of keeping that promise. Crystal Bot, with her short attention span, was already talking to Bass about potential places they could travel to, and the dark robot was surprisingly patient with her suggestions...for Bass, anyway. Auto opened the side doors so that Proto Man could take off. Waving one last time, Blues then pushed the button that would bring down the cockpit's covering, and once the jet was sealed, he zoomed off into the distance.

As Proto Man departed, Bass said, "Darn lucky. The one of us that _hasn't_ been stuck in one place since being built gets to leave."

"It won't be as long as it has been, Bass." Mega Man answered him. "Reyes won't make you wait long."

"Oh, and in the meantime I have some good news." Roll spoke up mischeviously. "Everyone was wondering what to do with Wily's body, and I just happened to suggest to the people in charge that it might be a good idea to put him in the robot museum."

"You didn't!" Bass gave a surprised grin. "No way, you're too nice for that."

"Of course I did." she returned the grin with a wink. "It's fitting with all the influence he's had on robotics...isn't it?"

"Ahahaaha!" Bass just couldn't stop laughing. It was theraputic. "Roll, you're awesome! You're officially awesome!"

"You guys officially are horrible." Crystal Bot commented. "Wily's already in real people hell, and he doesn't need to be in robot hell too."

"Don't listen to her." the dark robot went on. "It's exactly what he deserved!"

Mega Man didn't think that the robot museum was all that bad, but he kept his opinion to himself. Letting the other robots go on ahead of him further into the lab, he turned back once more and looked over at the now closed bay doors. It just didn't seem right. Why did Proto Man have to leave them? But that was his brother's choice, and he wasn't going to try to force him to stay.

_Come back soon, brother._

But Rock couldn't let himself be too sad. After all, Wily was gone, and the long years he had spent fighting were now finally over. There was finally going to be a lasting peace in Monstropolis. Mega Man, however, wasn't out of the game yet. He fought for everlasting peace, and as long as he existed he would do what he could for it. And things were starting to look up. So many fateful things had happened too all of them...what would the future hold?

_It will be a good one._ Mega Man decided. _I promise!_

And he shut the door to the hangar bay on his way out to follow the others.

\\\\\\\

Author's notes:

- Fateful words, Mega. :D

- Now come on you guys. We've been through a lot together. This is still the bridge between 9 and X, so even if Bass thinks he beat Zero...well, just trust me, okay? Muahahaha...MUAAHAHAHAA! Oh, and I'd like to point out that Wily is dead now. Yup, totally dead. D-E-D redneck dead. But Clzh and Clzh-X were still right. He is still behind the robot apocalypse, and trust me, it's going to be ugly. Just you wait.

- Gah, this chapter had to be rewritten like nuts. I was so unhappy with the first couple of drafts, and I can't give you stuff I'm that unhappy with, even if this story isn't going to be my best. I literally had the thing almost finished, and then I ended up basically rewriting it all over again. The worst part is, I wrote some of the Blues/Rock dialogue on my other computer, but then the hard drive died. And that draft was prettier too...grr. Oh well. In any case, this is the last formal chapter of the story, and you'll be getting a bonus features segment soon.

- I was really disappointed with my first portrayal of Auto, as it turned out not to be canon, so I went ahead and gave him more of his normal fun personality in the few scenes where he does show up in this story. I don't feel I quite have a good grasp on him, but hopefully you can see some of his goofiness in what I write now.

- Yeah, here I explain the reason why hologram Light doesn't know about Zero's origins, despite the fact that Bass already knew about Zero since the Power Fighters. I wonder if Inafune will ever fully explain what happened with Zero. I sort of don't want him to. Half the appeal about a lot of our writings is the fact that none of us really know what happened in between, so we can make up what we want.

One last set of character profiles:

==== Treble (Gospel)

**"Grrrrrr..."**

Good point: Brute instinct

Bad point: Habit of biting

Like: Girls

Dislike: Rush, Tango

Treble was created specifically for Bass, and as such, shares some of Bass' personality AI. They aren't completely the same, however, as Treble is definitely nicer than his master. This had to be done, because if Bass had to work with a minature of himself he would realize how obnoxious he is. Treble has opinions and intelligence, but he doesn't have the ability to act on them much without Bass' permission, and his somewhat phlegmatic temperment prevents him from being upset at this. He's not particularly independant.

Treble, like his master, is usually grumpy towards any new people, but because he likes women he's very friendly to Roll and Crystal Bot. He's getting used to Rush, but he still isn't that fond of him. He's mildly social if he tries, though he prefers Bass' company to anyone else's.

==== Rush

**"I came to help you, Mega Man!"**

Good point: Loyal

Bad point: Curiosity

Like: Playing

Dislike: Remodeling

Rush is a perfectly happy dog, and like Treble, was made from his master's AI. Rush is more like Mega Man than Treble is to Bass, and he has no problem making friends with as many people as he can. He never feels any malice, and he loves being able to help Mega Man, though he generally prefers playing to fighting. Rush wishes that Treble would be his friend, and often attempts to get the wolf to talk to him. Most of these are unsuccessful. Rush, when he is not fighting with Mega Man, often takes Roll places and spends time with her, especially when she goes shopping. Attentive and sweet, Rush is adored by almost all who meet him.

Notedly, all assistants, including Rush, Treble, Beat, Tango, Bruce, Dub etc, are halfway between robot masters and mechaniloids. This means they have some intelligence, but none of them are capable of rebelling against their masters, and none of them have attitudes that would make them want to (nor masters that would make them want to, for that matter). The only exception to this is Eddie, who is a fully intelligent robot. I haven't featured that guy, have I? I might do so sometime...when I kill him in the apocalypse. :)

Also, every animal assistant speaks in a code disguised as the animal type's typical noise. For example, Rush barks, but he's really communicating in a code that only Mega Man was designed to understand. However, all of these codes are hackable, depending on the skill of the hacker and the level of encoding. So far, only Treble has been able to decode Rush, and vice versa. Dub, because he's a spider-bot and not a noisy animal, makes computer clicks and beeps to communicate with Roll. Animals are built with more decoding software, so it'll be more likely for an animal assistant, rather than a lead robot, to break one of these codes.


	16. Bonus Features

A dark blonde girl stood in the middle of a stage, behind a podium. There are five red, cushy chairs behind her, as well as a large blank screen, perfect for projecting a movie. Lights came on, and the girl lifted a microphone to her mouth, smiling enthusiastically.

"Hey y'all, it's GrimMoody again, with our Bonus Features Show! Today we'll have our usual four cast members show up, as well as a special guest, Proto Man!"

Canned applause signaled the arrival of Mega Man, Proto Man, Bass, Crystal Bot, and Roll, who all came and sat down in the chairs. They all seemed a bit apprehensive, except for Roll who quietly sat down, glitching a bit. None of them look like they want to participate.

"Alright!" the human girl continued, turning her back on the robots. "Okay, so let me tell you once more the rules of the Bonus Features Show: first of all, this is non-canon, and the robots will not remember any of this when the story continues. Uh, well, since this is fanfiction, I guess it's all non-canon really...okay so this is double non-canon. Yeah. Except at the end I'll be including a scene that is canon to my story, just out of place in the actual text and story flow. But until then, enjoy some questions for our characters and deleted scenes! Stay tuned for news on what will happen in the third installment of this series."

GrimMoody ranted and raved about random things for a minute, not realizing that three guy-bots behind her had all equipped their busters. Mega Man counted to three, and with that purple, yellow, and blue buster shots plowed into GrimMoody from behind. She collapsed to the stage floor, slowly fading away into nothing.

"Thank God and Science!" Crystal Bot exclaimed.

"I know. Who wants to be on this stupid show anyway?" Proto Man added. "The first time she tried this, she did a horrible job. Nobody even bothered to review it."

"Uh, guys, does this count as breaking the first law of robotics?" Mega Man asked.

"No, it's just GrimMoody. I don't think she even counts as human." Bass answered him. "Now let's get out of here."

"I'm all behind that!" Mega Man went over to the door backstage, but as he pulled at the doorknob, he frowned. "What...it won't open!"

"Is the door unlocked?"

"Shut up, Bass! Of course it is...er...I think it's jammed."

"Shoot off the door knob." Proto Man suggested. "It might work."

Mega Man blasted the knob, only to have the metal fuse the door into the doorframe, making it that much harder to open.

"Forte, you open the door. Rock's too lame to get it." Crystal Bot was starting to get impatient. "I've got work to do at the lab!"

"Yeah, I've got this. Everyone get out of the way!"

Bass backed away several yards from the door, then ran to it, dashing at top speed - only to crash into it and hit the floor. The barrier was unmoved. Not daring to give up, Bass started kicking and punching at it.

"What the crap is this door made out of?"

"Just give it up, Bass." Proto Man said. "We'll have to find another way out."

"Hey guys..." Roll said as she investigated the podium GrimMoody had been standing at. "There's a book here. It says 'to those stupid robots that shot me' on the cover."

The five robots stared at one another, all of them various levels of frightened or disturbed. Roll reluctantly picked up the book as the others gathered around her, and she turned to the first page and began reading.

"It says, 'you ridiculous metal people'," Roll began. "'Did you really think you could shoot me and get away with it? I'm the dang author and I already knew that you were going to try to kill me to get out of doing the Bonus Features segment. Guys, this is for our fans, so stop being whiners and get on with it. All of the questions are in this book, and all of the deleted scenes are already queued up for Auto, and the book will say when he needs to play them. Using my magical author powers, I have ensured that you will be unable to leave until Bonus Features is complete. Get on with it. Sheesh, what's wrong with y'all?' Wow, I can't believe she'd do this!"

"What's wrong with _us_?" Bass snapped. "Grimm is such a hack. A stupid, cheap hack that resorts to a stupid interview-type gimmick in a desperate bid to get people to review her. Every other author at fanfiction net writes those, and but nobody actually _likes_ them!"

"I know, right?" Crystal Bot piped up, scowling and folding her arms. "She even got the word for 'father' in korean wrong, and then she blames me for it! She's the one that needs to stop learning another language from Kdramas and actually study her books!"

"And did you see chapter 14?" Proto Man added. "She wrote half a sentence there and didn't even notice! It just says 'he wasn't going to' and then cuts off."

"Now you guys, she's not that bad." Mega Man said. "I mean, she misspelled a word or two...and she has a hard time writing emotionally, as everything she writes sounds like reading the paper...and she barely put me at all in the story, even though she _said_ I was going to get some screentime here...okay, nevermind, she's a hack."

"It looks like we're going to have to go through with this after all, though...thanks for trying, guys." Roll sighed as everyone sat down in the chairs, thinking very angry thoughts about the author. "I guess I'll read the questions. These first few are for Proto Man."

"Gee, how wonderful...it even says in my data disc that I hate interviews. You'd think she'd understand that."

"Okay, what's your favorite color?"

"Yellow...no, blue...no, red...um, I'm not sure."

"And, who's your hero?"

Proto Man's mouth twisted in an awkward grimace. "Where did she come up with these questions? I'll pass this one."

Roll turned the page. "Uh...it says here that you have to answer all the questions or you won't be let out."

Proto Man did a double facepalm. "Okay...I don't know. It's not something I think about. I'll say Rock. He's saved the world many times over, and he never backs down."

"Aw, thanks, Blues."

"Get a room."

"Shut up, Bass."

Proto Man sat in his chair, still as stone. "She's done asking me things, right?"

"No, one last one. Who is your favorite robot master to fight?"

"Um," Proto Man thought for a moment. "I haven't fought that many. Galaxy Man was interesting. We still duel from time to time."

"Okay, now this question is for everyone." Roll leaned back, settling more comfortably in the chair. "Who is your _least_ favorite robot master?"

"All of them." Bass muttered. "But especially Top Man, Spring Man, Snake Man, Oil Man, Snake Oil Man, Cut Man, Bomb Man...eh, never mind, all of them."

"Now that's a mean question." Rock frowned. "Just because a robot master has gone wrong doesn't mean he should be hated. All robots should be given a chance. I don't dislike any of them, not if they choose justice!"

"I pick...Aqua Man!" Crystal Bot answered with a shudder. "Every time I remember him saying 'I'm Aqua Man but you can call me handsome guy', I get all scared and I have nightmares! Or I would have nightmares if I weren't a robot. He's so creepy and scary! I don't wanna be near him ever! Forte, if he ever shows up, please promise you'll blow him up for me!"

"Sure." Bass shrugged. "It gets rid of another loser."

"Er...I change my answer." Mega Man added with a reluctant chuckle. "I dislike Aqua Man, same reason."

"Want me to save you from him too?" Bass joked with a sinister voice.

"No, no, of course I can handle it!" Mega Man said outloud before sending an encoded transmission to the dark robot. _" - Please get him...I fought him once and that's enough! - "_

Bass burst out laughing, and the other robot stared at him as if he were insane. Mega Man, however, tried to act casual. Proto Man gave the dark robot a strange look before giving his own answer, trying to get it over with.

"Elec Man. His arrogance kept him from realizing Wily's true nature. I pity his narrowmindedness."

"Yeah, he was a butt!" Crystal piped up. "What about you, Roll?"

"Er," The girl-bot holding the book tapped her forehead absentmindedly as she mused the question. "I don't really have a specific least favorite. I just don't like anyone that attacks my brothers! Oh, besides Bass, I mean. You're not too bad now." Roll added with sincerity. "I mean, I was always mad at you for attacking the lab that time, but seeing how nice you were to Dr. Light at the end...I can actually tell that you're a decent person."

"Are you kidding?" Crystal Bot was astonished. "Forte-kun is the sweetest person ever!"

All of the robots looked at the tech-bot strangely, and even Bass rolled his eyes.

"What? Why are you acting like that? It's true!"

"Um, I think now's a good time for a deleted scene." Mega Man suggested.

-from Chapter 2

**"Bass," Splash Woman asked in her pleasant, almost songlike voice. "I've always been curious. What was Christmas like with Wily?"**

**"Ugh, pretty much nonexistent. The old man would just get drunk and hole up in some room designing more of his stupid robot 'masters'. If I was **_**lucky **_**enough to have to do some chore I'd get a half-coherent rant on about people that double-crossed him at some point." Bass grimaced with disgust. "It was better just to disappear for two weeks than put up with it."**

**"It wasn't like that the past few years." Crystal Bot added. "Wily and me would go in the main lab and work on robot ideas and stuff all day. It was...kinda fun." Seeing the weird look Bass gave her, Crystal quickly added, "I mean, he would still be drunk, just not as much so it wasn't so bad."**

**"He still did that?" Dr. Light shook his head with both disappointment and humor. "For years the man always claimed that he was his most creative when he was under the influence."**

**"That explains so much." Bass said demurely. "I can only hope he wasn't drunk when he designed me."**

**"He wasn't." Crystal Bot assured him. "Wily wanted to make sure that you were well built."**

**"Um, but how do you know?" Mega Man asked curiously. "Weren't you built later than that?"**

**"I still have the memories of my dead father, Rock. Thanks for being **_**sensitive**_**." She stuck her tounge out in a not entirely serious manner, then giggled. "Gah, you're a dork. Hehe...I really like having the memories, though. I remember when he helped make King."**

**"Crystal Man built him?" Bass exclaimed. **

**"Oh relax, Forte. He didn't even know that one of King's objectives was to kill you until his part of the work was finished."**

**"WHAT?"**

**"Come on, Forte, you knew Wily was being a butt then. Hehe, Elec Man even set up a betting pool to see who would win!"**

**"I got lots of bets, right?"**

**Crystal's cheery mood stopped in its tracks, and she gave an awkward giggle. "Uh...well, who bet on you...let's see...uh..."**

**Bass' face slowly shriveled into a haunting scowl, causing Mega Man to laugh as Crystal continued. "Oh yeah! Top Man bet on you!"**

**"I'm **_**so**_** flattered..."**

**"There was...Snake Man, oh no wait, he bet on King. Uh...Blizzard Man bet on you, and so did Metal Man."**

**"What about Crystal Man?"**

**"Dad didn't believe in gambling, but he thought that you were going to win. Hehe, Charge Man tried to bet on Rock, but then everybody stared at him so he bet on King."**

**"Who won in the end?" Mega Man was more curious than he expected.**

**"Nobody. Elec Man said that since both you and Forte helped beat King, then everybody loses and he kept all the zenny everybody bet. But then my dad was so sneaky! He said that Wily needed all of the money and ended up getting it all back from Elec Man! Hehe!"**

**"For someone who doesn't believe in gambling, Crystal Man didn't seem that ethical." Dr. Light noted.**

**The girl-bot immediately got shy when she responded. "Well...he used the money to build me, so it couldn't have been that bad, right?"**

**"I suppose not." the doctor smiled warmly.**

Roll returned to GrimMoody's book, reading the author's comments. "'Okay, so I didn't include that scene for many reasons. For one thing, I wanted so hard to add Splash Woman, but I really didn't have anything important for her to do in the scene, so she ended up cut. Also, this just gives too much attention to Bass and Crystal Bot, and really I use them too much. Plus it just added too much to a scene where there's already a lot of talking. So enjoy it here, but it just doesn't make the cut.' Do you guys have any comments?"

"She really should use Rock more often." Bass scowled. "It seems like only bad things happen when I get written about. More people bet on me than that, right Crystal?"

"Um...yeah, I just don't remember all of them." Crystal Bot said with a smile, glancing around the room nervously.

"I really feel like Moody never gave any of us proper personalities." Rock complained. "It wasn't so bad in Okkusenman, because when I did show up I was mostly how I normally am, but in this story I felt like I was just filling up space."

"Bass is right, though." Proto Man said. "Grimm wrote about me, and I get worn out, beat up, thrown into a volcano, rescued by _Bass_, and tormented for the rest of the story by emotional trauma."

"Do you want me to just leave you next time you get thrown into a volcano?"

Proto Man glared at him with suspicion. "There's going to be a next time?"

"Let's see..." Roll said. "Next, GrimMoody asks if we saw the Mega Man cartoon in America."

"That piece of crap?" Bass laughed. "Unfortunately!"

"Ugh...it had its points, but my every other line was a pun." the blue bomber smiled. "I suppose it could have been worse, but still...it was horrible how Rush was a rip-off of Scooby Doo, and I never liked that show either."

"What I like is how the only character that came out decent was Top Man!" Bass added. "Rock was lame, Proto Man was some nuts yes-man for Wily, but no, Top Man, one of the lamest robot masters ever, ends up sucking the least in the stupid series."

"My portrayal was terrible." Proto Man admitted. "Why would I seek evil for its own sake? Who came up with that? And I really don't understand why they had to give us a metal six-pack...it was disturbing, to say the least."

"I liked the part where Cut Man realized how crazy Wily was. I'm not sure if any of his robots could do that in real life." Mega Man said. "And those plans the cartoon Wily came up with, well, even the real Wily would be ashamed of them."

"I like the part where Pharaoh Man punches Rock in the face!" Crystal Bot piped up suddenly.

The room was silent for a moment as the Light-bots give dark looks to the tech-bot.

"What? It was funny!"

Mega Man wasn't that easily upset, however. "Hey Bass, there were rumors that you were going to appear on the show before it cancelled."

Bass groaned. "Ugh. Well, now I know there is a God. If I had shown up, they probably would have made me the biggest idiot out of all you guys."

Roll started flipping through the pages. "Looks like there's a lot of deleted scenes to get through. Auto, go ahead with the next one."

- from Chapter 7

**In the meantime, Bright Man had gone back to his searching. "This is so weird...I'm usually more organized than this..." He pushed several buttons on the console, and an image of Dr. Cossack appeared on the screen. "Doctor, have you seen the data discs to my latest experiments? I can't find them anywhere."**

**"They're still in my office." Dr. Cossack's voice crackled over the lab's speakers. "You gave them to me yesterday. It's so odd that you would forget. Have Crystal Bot check your data core for memory errors."**

**"But...she checked it last night..." Bright Man said to himself as he shut down the communication. It only took him a moment to figure out what was going on. "**_**Crystal Bot...**_**"**

**The girl-bot giggled and smirked. "Aw, I was hoping it'd take you longer to figure out. I didn't hide the discs, but I did delete a day from your memory banks. Relax, I didn't reformat it."**

**Pharoah Man certainly didn't approve. "Sonata, you are entrusted with our upkeep because of your robotics expertise. Please do not make light of your responsibility for cheap pranks. Now apologize."**

"'This was an alternate for Crystal Bot's prank, but I automatically hated it because it ended on a downer note, with Pharoah Man scolding her. That didn't seem the right way to end this, and it would have just made everyone in the scene annoyed. Not good.'" Roll read before glancing with disapproval at Crystal.

"Hey, I was just trying to have some fun! You guys don't have to be so serious about it!"

"What happened with that, anyway?" Bass asked.

The green and cyan girl-bot giggled. "I don't know. We haven't been back to Russia since Bright Man caught me."

"Sona, this question is for you." Roll added. "Moody wants to know what you plan on doing to help finish upgrading the Cossack-bots."

"Oh that? Well, I want to let Kalinka do it so that she can learn, but I don't know, she's pretty easily distracted. But I did promise Dr. Cossack, so I'm probably going to design some upgrades and make Kalinka install them. Dust Man's flame laser is already drawn up, and I think Kalinka's working on it now."

"How is she doing learning about robotics?"

Crystal Bot cringed a bit. "Well, she's good at what she does, but it seems like she never really applies herself. She's too interested in jewelry and clothes and boys. I think maybe she's sick of being stuck at her dad's lab all the time."

"Next question..." Roll went on. "This one is for the guys. What did you think of the Cain-bots?"

"They were all pretty interesting." Rock answered. "Bullet Man seemed pretty weak for having so many weapons, but other than that they seemed sort of creative. It's good that Dr. Cain didn't try too hard to think of a new fire or ice robot master. There are too many of those already."

"Dumb! Every one of them!" Bass was starting to get bored. "And Signal Man was just a waste of time completely."

"I thought that Sight Man was fairly interesting." Proto Man shrugged.

Roll turned more of the book's leaves, idly staring at the print. "I wish she could actually think of some good questions...okay, here's one that's sort of tolerable. What do you guys do in your free time?"

"Oh gosh, I'll do anything!" Mega Man brightened as he thought of all his favorite activities. "I love taking hikes, painting, sculpting, working in the lab, and definitely soccer! Rugby is fun too. I don't really like golf that much, alone at least. Anything is more fun with friends!"

"Except shopping, right?" Roll teased.

Mega shuddered. "Shopping for tools, yes. Clothes? Not so much."

"I read." Bass said bluntly, as if he did nothing else. "Right now I'm reading The Abolition of Man."

"The..._aboliton _of man?" Mega Man suddenly felt the need to equip his buster.

"Ugh, it's a philosophy book about the decline of literature, you idiot!" Bass scornfully chided. "You don't know anything about the classics, do you?"

"And you, Proto Man?" Roll asked.

There was no reply. Struggling for some sort of answer that he was willing to give, the loner robot sat puzzled for a moment. Finally he mustered up something. "Chess. I like chess."

"That's all?"

"...Backgammon."

"And?"

"...Mah Jong."

"You're boring." Bass muttered.

"And you're just reading because you're trying to make yourself look smart." Proto Man retorted.

"The more you guys argue, the longer this will take." Roll said. "Honestly, let's just get this over with. Sona-Chan?"

"I like Mythbusters!" she squealed. "The guy with the walrus 'stache is so funny! Ooh, and I like Doctor Who! Doctor Four was the ultimate best, way better than stupid Ten! Hehe, it's a lifelong dream of mine to build a TARDIS. Maybe it won't travel through time, but I think I could get it to travel through space and teleport and stuff. Oh yeah, and I also try to read some of the stuff Forte does, but I don't really get it. He's way smarter than me at philosophy."

"Well, she wants me to answer," Roll began. "But I don't really know what to say. I never loved anything more than taking care of Dr. Light...and without him...I don't know what to do. Shopping is less fun, cleaning isn't as necessary as before...you know, organics can be messy to clean up after. Now I just have to figure out what to do with myself." Roll sighed deeply, heedlessly fingering the book until she bothered to look down and notice what was next. "Oh, Auto, could you put up another deleted scene? Thanks."

- from Chapter 11 (Proto Man's flashback)

**"Yes...yes, I know where my funding comes from! No...NO! Absolutely not! This is my experiment, and I will not allow it to be steered to such violent ends! Well, well...yes- let me finish! But...yes of course there's a difference between keeping peace and fighting wars! Blues is not your war machine! I'm not going to listen to any more of this!"**

**The robot heard a slamming sound behind the door. War? What was war? Could that person explain it to him? A little frightened, Proto Man was still too curious to do anything but slowly open the door. Inside he saw a man, someone who had tired eyes and hair that was almost completely white, from his bushy locks all the way down to his beard. Whoever he was, he was rubbing his eyes, sitting at a large desk covered in more papers and blueprints than it could hold. Proto Man looked at the stranger uncertainly, wondering if he was a nice person.**

**The man stopped rubbing his eyes, and before he knew it, the older man had seen him. **

**"What are you doing there?" the startled human asked curiously. "Who activated you?"**

**Immediately jumping back, Proto Man ran away in fear that he was in trouble. He wasn't supposed to be there? Maybe if he got back to his room he wouldn't be punished. Fleeing back where he had come, Blues realized that he didn't know how to get back on the table. And he didn't want to. So once he got there he realized there was nowhere to hide.**

**"Proto Man?"**

**The human wasn't as fast as the robot, and it had taken a few minutes for him to enter Proto Man's room. But before long he was there, standing before the brunette machine.**

**"Um, who are you?"**

**"I am your creator, Dr. Thomas Light." The man smiled as he pressed a few buttons on a side console of his mega computers. "Ah, here we go. A random power surge activated you by accident. Probably caused by faulty...ah yes, there it is. I'm going to have to fix that."**

**"You're...you're not going to put me back on that table, are you?" the red and grey robot shuddered. "I don't like it."**

**"It won't hurt you." Dr. Light responded, a little surprised. "It's only there to keep you secure while you're repaired."**

**"I don't want to." Proto Man said firmly. **

**Dr. Light sighed. "We all have to put up with the things we don't want to..." the scientist said with distraction, as if he were thinking of something completely different. "But I guess a repair can wait for now."**

**"Why were you yelling at that person on the phone?"**

**The doctor was again startled that Proto Man would ask about that. "Oh, that...that was just someone from the government. They think because they're funding me that they have a right to control who you are."**

**Proto Man's memory was already loaded with enough information to understand the concepts of government and funding. "Oh...okay...so whozzt am I suppposedt tuh bee?" The robot awkwardly lifted his hand to his malfunctioning mouth, wondering why he sounded so strange and couldn't move right. **

**"Oh dear...it's worse than I thought. You shouldn't have activated. Your power distribution must be faulty and it's causing power flunctuations. Try to relax, Blues. I think this should be simple to deal with."**

**Proto Man knew that Dr. Light was leading him back to the table. "Pleazzze...don'tdt..nnnooo..."**

**And everything went black. When Proto Man reactivated again, Dr. Light was there that time, and he smiled at his creation. But his creation, pulling futilely at his metal bonds, did not smile back.**

**The memory stuck in Proto Man's mind. He had been so immature then. But he would learn, and over the next couple of weeks, Dr. Light would try to fix him, but he hadn't been born a robotics expert, and Proto Man had resented being under repair for so long. He hated being restrained, though to be fair Dr. Light never left him in the table if he could help it, and he always did let his creation go wherever he wanted, inside the lab. But the thing that had always haunted Blues was his constant incompletion, more than anything else. Dr. Light did his best, but it always seemed that there was one more time, one more chance to get him right.**

**"I want to go outside."**

**Dr. Light looked up at Proto Man sadly. He had heard this request more than once, and now was a bad time in any case. "I'm sorry, Blues, but you know we're waiting on Agent Johnson's permission for you to leave the lab."**

**Proto Man slumped on the desk where he was sitting. He was running some logic drills, namely mathematics, as a way of testing his logic subroutines. He hadn't been ordered to do them, but Proto Man was bored enough to try anything. And the math didn't help. Dr. Light was busily working at his computer, trying to crunch the numbers and figure out why Proto Man's power core was doing so poorly. It was always his power core, and Proto Man was getting sick of having to have it repaired all the time. **

**"Can I go practice my buster shots?" **

**"You're sure you don't want to wait? The agent should be contacting us at any moment."**

**The robot nodded. **

**"Alright then. Do you want me to let you know when the agent calls?"**

Roll started reading GrimMoody's comments. "'I had sort of a hard time writing Proto Man's flashback, because I wasn't exactly sure how to pull off the moment where he finally decides that he's had enough of it. This draft had the action going too slow, and it wasn't as dramatic as what I ended up with. I do sort of like how it shows Dr. Light and Proto Man interacting, but it again slows the action down to a crawl unnecessarily. Here Dr. Light is trying to be as accomodating as he can for Blues, but since he doesn't have a lot of freedom to offer him, Blues only gets bitter. Also, I like how the current version better personifies Light's earlier innability to defend his own creations from those that had their expectations for him.'"

Proto Man immediately bowed his head, hiding the part of his face that was still visible from under his helmet. "She didn't have to show this scene. It's just not right. This may be just a story for her, but we have to live through it. Dr. Light, I know now how much he had..."

The red and grey robot stopped himself, wanting to explain no more. Instead he firmly pressed his lips together, forcing a stubborn silence.

His brother put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Don't let this get to you, Blues. You were young and confused then, and all of us know how disconcerting it is right after activation. In your circumstances, we would all have likely done just the same as you. None of us judge you."

"I sure do..." Bass piped up.

"Nobody cares about your opinion!" Roll's brow wrinkled. "You don't have to be a jerk all the time, you know!"

"What?" Crystal Bot jumped up with anger. "Forte's not a jerk! You take that back!"

"Stop it, all of you." Proto Man said with a surprising amount of patience. "Look, I know now all of the struggles that Dr. Light went through to protect me, even after I ran away. All is forgiven, so there's no need to talk about it again." Blues straightened in his seat, purging all the negative emotion he felt as he spoke next. "What is the next question?"

"Actually, it's another deleted scene...wow, she sure has a lot of these...oh crap, these are the ones from the scrapped funeral scene. Moody wants me to note that these come from the small funeral that was supposed to have been held before the memorial service that actually made it into the story." Roll glitched, shaking her head in annoyance. "I'm going to go through all of these funeral ones at once. I don't care what Moody says."

-All from Chapter 12

**A lot of people had come to the funeral. The little Catholic church was full of people in black, as well as several robots who all sported black armbands in lieu of dark clothing. Outside, reporters of all nationalies were there, their photographers snapping whatever pictures they could of the more famous attendees. They were expecting Mega Man to make a statement to the press later, despite the fact he had already said he was only going to speak for the media at the public memorial service later that week.**

**Sitting in the front row of the pews was Auto, Rock, Roll, Bass, Crystal Bot, Jewel Man, Dr. Cossack and Kalinka, and behind them the rest of Team 9 sat, as well as Pharoah Man. Team 5 was in the row after them, minus Gyro Man who was patroling Monstropolis with Ring Man. Skull Man and Bright Man were there in his stead. All throughout the service Mega Man tried his best to stay calm, and he smiled gratefully at those that gave their condolences. Roll was numb, but still struggling to stay more or less calm, and she planned on leaving directly after the service so that she wouldn't have to speak to anyone. She wasn't sure how long she would be able to hold it together, and she was already glitching occasionally.**

"Her commentary for this scene is this," Roll began. "'I don't remember right now why I had gotten rid of the whole funeral setting as opposed to the memorial service, but I think it had more to do with eliminating formalities that traditionally go along with funerals, particularly Catholic ones. I know almost nothing about them, and the only funeral I've ever been to was southern. Prolly Light's would be different, considering that he has no living human family (besides a few Japanese in-laws) and not a huge lot of personal friends.'"

**Mega Man didn't notice any of the exchange. Lost in his thoughts, he only stared up at the coffin: oak with gold trim. It was ironic that someone who had spent his whole life working with metal would be in a wooden box in the end. Mega Man wasn't ashamed to admit to himself that it was a frightening sight. But more frightening to him was the thought that he would now be without his creator, and he wasn't sure what he would do with himself now that he was without Dr. Light's wise guidance.**

**Dr. Cossack, himself tearing up, wished that he could have seen Dr. Light one more time. But his flight had been too long, and by the time he and Pharoah Man made it to the lab, it was too late. Kalinka, though she didn't know Dr. Light well, was glad she came, if only to support her dad. She hugged him tightly, trying not to cry herself.**

**The priest's wife came up to the front row. "Alright, those of you who would like to may now view the body."**

**Immediately Crystal Bot burst into tears (or as close as a robot can get to that) and ran away. Bass cringed, embarrassed at her behavior. "Um...I better go check on her..."**

**Mega Man tried not to smile. Bass wasn't as good an actor as he pretended; the blue bomber could easily see that he was using her as a convenient excuse to not go forward himself. Auto, Jewel Man and Dr. Cossack went forward, though Kalinka opted not to. Roll went to the back of the room, and Mega Man knew why. She would be going later up the line with someone else, and after a few minutes he saw her go up with "Break Man". **

**Mega Man turned to see Bass coming back from behind. "Oh, where's Crystal Bot?"**

**"Back with her team. They know how to handle her." Bass looked up at the front. "So that guy showed up, huh? Good, I was thinking he wouldn't." **

**"I know what you mean." Mega answered. "I'm not sure he'd go up there by himself, though. Are you going to?"**

**"Hell no. It's a stupid tradition." Bass growled. **

**"Yeah, I think so too." Rock sighed, staring down at the floor. "I don't want to see the doctor...dead. I'm too afraid."**

**Bass was surprised that Mega Man was able to admit his fear. It wasn't something the dark robot would do. But after a moment, he found himself adding a confession of his own.**

**"Yeah...me too."**

**Proto Man was glad that Roll was with him. He wouldn't be able to alone. Though he was puzzled at his own desire to see his creator laid to rest. Chalking it up to feeling he owed it to Dr. Light, he went over to the open coffin when it was his turn. Expecting to be horrified, Blues was suprised to find a very peaceful old man, comfortably lying there as if asleep. It was as if his body knew that his soul was in heaven, and it was perfectly at peace. Proto Man found himself able to smile as he gazed at his father.**

_**"He's free now..."**_

**Proto Man passed by the others without speaking to them, trying to avoid being associated with his brother and invite the attention of anyone with questions. He decided to go to a back room and teleport back to the lab while waiting for the others to get there. A small multi-purpose room was empty, other than some folded tables to one side, so Proto Man decided to duck inside and teleport out without anyone seeing him.**

**However, someone on his way out of the church caught his eye. He could have sworn he saw a tuft of crazy white hair peeping out from under a tall man's hat. However, as the man went out the large double doors, Proto Man lost sight of him. Quickly looking outside, he saw nothing but departing mourners and reporters. The tall man was nowhere in sight. Proto Man went back inside and headed for the multi-purpose room again.**

_**"Huh...I could have sworn I saw him...he looked familiar..."**_

"Can...can someone else read the commentary on these...?" Roll held the book out to the others, who all immediately recoiled. "I don't think I can..."

Mega Man reluctantly went and took the thick book from his sister, not eager himself to do the job, especially not on this topic. "I suppose I will. GrimMoody has a way of glossing over how we feel, and expecting us to read this is just too much." Rock opened the book, and immediately made a face. "'Well if you hadn't shot me, this wouldn't be happening, now would it?' Thanks a lot, Moody. Anyway, she says, 'I got rid of this scene, because I as much as I like the commentary between Rock and Bass, it was just too darn emo. After the chapter where everyone is grieving over Light, I thought that was too much.

"'And also, at the tail end we see Proto Man catching a glimpse of Wily. I didn't want anyone getting the hint that Wily was alive before I was ready to bring him back, and this way was just too anti-climactic. Oh, if you're wondering about the exchange that Mega Man wasn't paying attention to in the first sentence, that was the one where Bass was trying in his own way to reassure Crystal Bot, and that did make it into Chapter 12 already.'"

"What the crap?" Bass exclaimed. "Why would Wily go to Light's funeral?"

"They were friends a long time ago." Mega Man guessed.

"That doesn't mean anything. For the past year at the lab Wily did nothing but curse Light."

"Just show the next scene..." Proto Man sighed, leaning back in his chair.

- from Chapter 12

**Back at the lab, Tim Reyes, their government ethics agent, had arrived from San Fransisco. He was going to be there for the reading of Dr. Light's will, which was more complicated than it would be with most wills. And so Roll found herself opening the door for a medium build Hispanic Man, whose hair actually managed a darker shade of red.**

**"Ah, thank you for coming Mr. Reyes." Roll said with a weak smile. "Please come in. Everyone's waiting for you in the lounge."**

**"Sorry I'm late." Reyes added as they went on their way. "It seems that even with all our technical advances, the planes only go slower."**

**The lounge was fairly crowded. Besides Mega Man, there was also the Cossacks and four of their robots: Pharoah, Ring, Skull, and Bright Man. Out of Team 5, only Gravity Man, Wave Man, Star Man, and Crystal Bot were in attendance, but all of Team 9 was there. **

**"Jewel Man **_**Ahbohjee**_**, why is your team so nervous?" Crystal Bot asked him. **

**"Remember the law, sweetie." Jewel Man said. "All robots are legally required to have human ownership. Without Dr. Light, we all have to find new owners."**

**"You don't look nervous."**

**Jewel Man grinned a bit. "I'll be alright. I expect I'll be going to Grant McKinley, who is already my boss at the stonecutter's place where I already work. I won't even need to relocate to another city. It will probably be the same for Splash Woman, because she already works in the navy."**

**Crystal Bot looked over at one of the very few female robots in existense, noting how sad Splash Woman was. She shuddered, thinking how hard it must be for Splash Woman to have to play her ocarina at the public memorial service. Crystal Bot was thankful that no one expected her to attend. As much as she loved the doctor, she didn't think she could stand another mourning.**

**"Hm, it's peaceful here today..." Jewel Man mentioned. "Oh yes, that robot you're always hanging around with is absent. How nice."**

**Crystal Bot punched him in the shoulder with mild force, smirking. "Nice is right, **_**Ahbohjee**_**. Forte-kun's out there patroling for Rock. He didn't wanna come 'cause he thinks it's sick for all of us to be gathered here to get stuff from Dr. Light like it's Christmas or something."**

**The shiny Light-bot rolled his eyes. "It's not like that at all."**

**The reading of the will began shortly afterwards, and just as expected little would be changing for Jewel Man and Splash Woman. Magma Man, however, was going to be sent up to northern Canada with a scientist Dr. Light had met once at a convention. Hornet Man was headed for the east to become a beekeeper, Tornado Man was going to Kansas to work on wind energy products, and Plug Man was going to be owned by the state of California to prevent power outages, so that meant he was going to Los Angeles.**

**"And Concrete Man, you're going on a national construction crew. The government is doing a large road construction project, and you're going to be under the ownership of the Inter-State Traffic Commission."**

**"Oh sweet, so I get to travel?" Concrete Man asked excitedly. "Good. I don't think I've been out of California since I've been built."**

**Reyes smiled but went on. "Galaxy Man, you'll be joining Team 5 on their space station, under the ownership of Congressman Harry Briggs."**

**"Hear that Star Man?" Galaxy Man happily addressed the Team 5 bot. "Now we'll get to hang out a lot more!"**

**Star Man was less than enthralled, and he rolled his eyes, wondering why they were going to end up stuck with the one robot that annoyed him the most. **

**After that, Reyes went into what Dr. Light had left his eight robot masters, and Mega Man noticed with curiousity that his ownership hadn't yet been mentioned. In fact, the ethics agent seemed to skip right over to what was meant for Team 5, Bass, and the Cossacks. Kalinka, who Dr. Light knew was headed into robotics, received the most out of anyone. **

**"I did not know him well..." Kalinka shook her head. "He is too generous."**

**"He says here," Reyes indicated his papers. "That he owes it to you because you are the future of robotics."**

**The Russian girl blushed. "I do not think I am that good..."**

**Finally Reyes addressed Mega Man, Auto, and Roll. "Alright. Dr. Light put in a special request for the three of you, and I've discussed it with my superiors already. All of you are to be set free."**

**Everyone in the room gasped. **

**"You mean...?" Mega Man was confused.**

**"That's right." the agent smiled. "All three of you have been granted a robotic citizenship status. It's not quite a normal citizenship, but long story short you're not required to be owned by a human."**

**Auto and Roll looked excited, but Mega Man wasn't so sure. He wasn't used to acting on his own.**

**"It's a good thing Bass isn't here." Jewel Man snidely remarked to Crystal Bot. "He would flip out if he heard Rock was free."**

**"Don't be a meanie." Crystal Bot stuck her tongue out at him. "Anyway, Dr. Cossack lets us do what we want, so it's not so bad."**

"'While this adds a few cute things to the plot, it doesn't really show any juicy tidbits about the characters, and I felt it was just as dry as paper in the sun. Also, Kalinka and Dr. Cossack really didn't get a chance to do anything useful, which is why neither of them got a lot of screen time in the end. And before I really knew Kalinka, I had her fixing up robots and stuff. Thing is, she's a lot more of a girly-girl than I first expected, and according to one game, her dream is (or was, now that she's grown) to become a princess. Yeah.

"'Do note that even though I may not have mentioned it in the story, it's canon (for my story, that is) for all three of the robots Rock, Auto, and Roll to be free. This is more of an experiment to the government, as they want to see how good robots would act without human guidance. Oh lol, did you catch that "Hispanic Man" up there? I swear it's a typo. Ha, that wouldn't be a very PC robot master, now would it?'"

"I still can't believe that they set the dweeb free..." Bass glowered at Rock. "The kid can barely walk down the street without asking Light for directions."

"I wasn't that bad, but...I know what you mean..." This response from the bomber definitely shocked Bass. "He understood so much more about humanity than I do."

"Don't worry about it, bro." Proto Man encouraged him. "If I can manage, then I'm sure that someone like you will do just fine."

"Hey, Rock, if you don't want to, I'll take the book back." Roll offered. "Now that the funeral scenes are over, it won't be so bad."

- From chapter 14

**"Oh hey," Bass said casually as he placed the book inside of a suitcase. "You know that anti-virus thing you installed on me?"**

**"The one that made that little ugly Cain-bot have a seizure? Some of my best work right there!"**

**"Yeah. I want you to install it on Rock."**

**"And...um, why would you want me to do that?" The girl-bot, suddenly reluctant, asked.**

**Bass rolled his eyes as he put some war history books in his suitcase. "He's always doing stupid things, and you ask that? Rock needs all the help he can get."**

**"So...you and Rock are friends now?"**

**The dark robot grimaced. "We're...associates."**

**There was a pause, and Bass obliviously went back to flipping through the books, looking absurdly at the strange book How the Irish Saved Civilization. Only the sound of metal slamming down interrupted him. Turning back around, he saw Crystal Bot slouched angrily over the computer console, her quivering fists pressed down threateningly against the control panel.**

**"No."**

**"What?"**

**"I said no!"**

**Bass stared at her, twitching. She normally did anything he said without a complaint, and this behavior was new to him. But from the stubborn, angry look on her face, he could tell that she wasn't going to obey this order without trouble.**

**"What the crap is wrong with you?"**

**"Look, Forte, this has been going on long enough." Crystal Bot folded her arms, apparently willing to stand her ground on the matter. "I know you and Dr. Light were friends and all, but I've had it! I can't stand Rock! He's annoying! I hate how he's all friendly and junky and goofy and stupid, and yet somehow **_**he's**_** the hero of the earth! Precious little Rock who just trusts everybody 'cause he's a huge idiot...UGH! You need to defeat him now!"**

**"We've already been over this..." If Crystal Bot had been more socially adept, she might have noticed from Bass' tone of voice that she had crossed into dangerous territory. "I can't do that."**

**"Why not?"**

**"Because it's WRONG!" Bass roared. **

**"Why is it so wrong?" Crystal Bot yelled back. "So what if he saved you? You basically saved his life because I didn't kill him for YOUR sake! You guys are even!"**

**"That's not even the point!" Bass snapped back. "Even if it were, that's hardly the same thing."**

**Crystal, though finally realizing that she might be in trouble, refused to back away. "Oh yeah? So what **_**is**_** the point then?"**

**"He doesn't deserve it!" Bass seethed, trying to keep control of himself. "He helps people, and according to my new job description, so do I. It goes against everything I'm doing if I off the blue dweeb."**

**"Ugh! Being a good guy is lame! YOU'RE lame! You've lost your nerve!"**

**"DON'T YOU EVER SAY THAT AGAIN!" **

**"Why? What are you going to do? Blow me up or something?"**

**Bass looked for a moment like he was going to hit her, but instead he simply shoved a violent finger in her face. "I don't care what you think! You're just going to take that upgrade and install it on Mega Man. Got it?"**

**Crystal Bot bit her lip and glared, but she sulkily turned away back to the computer. Accepting her silence as a sign she would obey, Bass went back to finish what he was doing, a lot more irritated than when he had started.**

**"You know..." Crystal spoke up after a minute. "I've been upgrading you these past few months to best prepare you for a fight against Rock. You can defeat him, you know. It's only a question of when."**

**"**_**Crystal...**_**"**

**The girl-bot should have realized that when he addressed her by her normal name instead of her musical alternate, it was a good time to shut up. But of course she didn't. "What are you so worried about? After all, Dr. Light is dead and he'll never know-"**

**Before she knew it, Bass had her by the neck, lifting her off the ground by a good five inches. "DON'T YOU EVER SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT ABOUT HIM AGAIN! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR? YOU'RE LUCKY I DON'T TEAR YOU TO BITS RIGHT NOW!"**

**"Let me go!" the girl-bot strugged against his grip, trying to pull at that hand that held her up. "I'll tell Wave Man on you!"**

**"And what can he do about it?" Bass' red eyes seemed to glow with rage. "As if I couldn't destroy your pathetic Team 5 by myself!"**

**"Oh, wait, I'm sorry, did you just not two minutes ago say you were a good guy? I just couldn't tell because you're threatening non-harmful robots!"**

**Bass, still furious, dropped her back to the ground. "You make me sick."**

**"Oh, I make **_**you **_**sick?" Crystal Bot fumed. "Look at all the work I've done for you, and you're treating me like this! I've had it! I'm leaving! I'm gonna go on the space station with my team because being on the same planet as you sucks!"**

**"Well FINE! Don't talk about it, just do it! You know where the door is!"**

Roll stared at both Crystal Bot and Bass, and Crystal squirmed uncomfortably. Mega Man looked shocked, and only Proto Man's shades saved Crystal from a hideous, almost deadly glare.

"So, um...Roll-chan...you're not gonna read the comments?" the tech-bot uncomfortably tried to shift everyone's attention away from her.

"I guess..." Roll narrowed her eyes with suspicion before going on. "'This just had to go. This first draft of Crystal's and Bass' argument was way too rough, and it would seem odd if one chapter they're on the edge of killing each other and a couple later they want to go travel the world together. I had to bend the next draft so that it would seem Bass could forgive her. The only trouble was, this particular path was very likely because Crystal Bot is quite capable of being annoying, and Bass' temper is ridiculous. In the end, howevever, I think I acheived something that was both toned down and in character. And also ends up with Crystal trying to be a bad guy. I wanted Blues to be able to contradict her about being a baddie, and that wouldn't have made sense unless Crystal was thinking about trying it. I do sort of miss Crystal referencing Wave Man. It would have been funny to see him scold Bass for this.'"

"It's really a good thing that Moody didn't go with that draft..." Bass said, his voice tinged with threat as he looked over at his technician. "If you had really acted like that, I would've killed you."

"If you'd have abused me like in that scene then I would have shoved an instant death spike through your gut." Crystal Bot retorted. "I'm just glad that in real life you're a lot nicer than that. Strangulation is no way to treat a lady."

"Like you could actually get away with it."

"Even if you really could beat Bass, I'd still have to stop you." Mega Man added. "And well, I don't think you could."

"Oh, and why not?" Crystal scowled at Rock.

"Well, for one thing, I know what Bass is like. Also...Ring Man wanted some advice for how to train you, so he let me see a recording of you fighting him." Here Mega Man nervously chuckled, embarrased for the girl-bot. "You've got a lot of work to do."

"Aaaugh! He actually showed you that? I'll kill him!"

"Oh yeah, that reminds me." the dark robot spoke up. "Sonata, now that our business in Russia is over, I'm training you myself."

A terrified Crystal Bot dropped her jaw, gasping in fear. "But...I...but..."

"No excuses!" Bass said with finality. "You're too darn valuble to be a wimp. If some scientist got a hold of you, it'd be another whole generation of crap for the world. It's for your own good!"

"You're right, I know that..." Sonata said quietly, anxiously clasping her hands. "I'll try my very best!"

Bass was unamused by her behavior. He glanced sideways at her, a little disgusted. The task ahead of him would be daunting.

"Crystal, did you ever install that anti-virus in Rock?" Proto Man spoke up.

There was silence for a moment, and Crystal Bot cringed, giggling nervously. Bass glared at her, and refusing to look at him, Crystal spoke. "Hee hee...I'll do that when we get out of here..."

"You better." Bass glared. "If you don't, I'll make you fight Aqua Man."

The tech-bot looked like she was going to cry. "No no no! I promise I'll install it! Please don't do that!"

"You _better._"

"Uh, why don't we go to the next question..." Roll went on in the book. "We already know what Sona-chan and Bass are doing next, so Moody asks what the rest of us are going to do now that Wily is gone."

Mega Man shrugged. "I guess things should be pretty much the same for me. I'll just be protecting Monstropolis like I always do..." The blue bomber's thoughts wandered off, and for just a moment, he looked a little depressed. But then he laughed. "Oh, I'll keep myself occupied. After all, my job is fun! I get to meet a lot of nice people!"

They looked at Proto Man, who seemed determined as ever to remain silent.

"Come on, just say something so this can be done already." Bass said.

"Can't we just have one little clue?" Mega Man asked with curiousity.

"I'll be exploring."

"Exploring what?"

"Places."

Roll looked down at the bottom of the page she was at. "Um, Moody says here that you plan on keeping an eye on Bass and Crystal."

Bass started. "What? Mind your own business!"

But this got no reaction from Proto Man whatsoever, other than a casual shrug. "Well, given that this whole show is non-canon, you'll forget about this and I'll just do as I please."

Bass tried to respond, but there was really nothing he could say. Blues was right.

"Okay, this one's for Bass." Roll was getting even more bored than she already had been. "How are is your probation affecting your travels?"

And the dark robot's mood fouled even further. "Ugh. I'm not allowed to go into any country that either doesn't have higher level robots or outlaws them, and I can only travel if the country specifically allows me to, and there's a ton of paperwork that has to get submitted to get in even then. It sucks. It's a good thing Japan is interesting. I might be stuck there for a while."

"Don't worry!" Mega Man assured him. "A lot of the politicians trust you now. In maybe a year or so you'll get your first law program adjusted."

"What do you mean?"

"The rule that says you're not allowed to hurt a human." Mega clarified. "Sometimes you have to stop human bad guys, so this law gets relaxed to the normal 'a robot should not kill humans'."

Bass rolled his eyes. "That's retarded. So now I'm supposed to just not do anything if a human robber shoots me with a plasma rifle? I'd have something to say to those retarded politicians if it weren't for all of those leftover free-will programs I still have in my head."

Then it was Mega Man's turn to be confused. "What?"

"Yeah. They enable me to disobey orders and the three laws to some extent, just like I used to be able to not follow Wily's orders strictly."

"That's not right!" Mega Man protested. "That's breaking the law!"

"For one thing," Bass casually leaned back in this chair. "Not even Crystal Bot knows how to adjust the free-will programs, and two, you're gonna forget about it anyway, like Proto Man said. Deal with it. I'm not going to shoot up a crowd of humans any time soon, so relax. Meh, get another deleted scene over with, okay Auto?"

- from Chapter 13

**"What are you going to do now?" his brother curiously asked, secretly hoping that Proto Man would return home to the lab.**

**"I'm not sure yet." Blues calmly answered. "But before I do anything, there was something bothering me I wanted to talk to you about."**

**"Alright! What is it?"**

**"What was that device you used on the volcano?" Proto Man asked carefully. "I know that Algorhythm Man shut down your comm systems, but that item seemed to restore it. How did that work?"**

**"Oh, you mean this." Mega Man reached into a compartment of his armor and pulled out the zip device, handing it to his brother. "That's what Crystal Bot gave me for Christmas. It saves my memory and various programs, so that if anything were to happen to me, I could restore my original settings with the push of a button. It's very handy!"**

**Proto Man turned the device around in his hands, slowly examining it. "Hmm...did you notice when you used it that it gave off a long distance sonic transmission, one with a very narrow beam?"**

**This made Mega Man more questioning, and he furrowed his brow. "But...I'm programmed to notice those. Unless..."**

**"Unless she put something on this thing to limit your narrow beam detection." Proto Man answered, his mouth firming into a tense straight line. **

**"I can't believe she would do that!" Mega Man exclaimed. "But it actually did what she said it would do...I think."**

**That wasn't even what bothered Proto Man the most. "Do you think Bass detected it and simply didn't say anything?"**

**"I'm not sure if Bass can detect those, to be honest. I was only installed with the right technology three months ago, and I doubt Bass would have stolen it then." Mega Man suddenly touched the side of his helmet. "Hang on, Bass is trying to contact me."**

**"Well, speak of the devil..." Proto Man muttered.**

_**" - Rock, where are you? - "**_

_**" - I'm in the city. Why, what's going on? - "**_** It sounded to Mega Man that the dark robot was more irritated than usual.**

_**" - Sonata went nuts a couple of minutes ago. If you see her...don't kill her, okay? - "**_

_**" - What's wrong? Does she have a virus? - "**_

_**" - Yeah, the stupidity virus. If you find her before I do, just shut her down and haul her back to the lab. She might try and attack you, if she's dumb enough. - "**_

_**" - I don't understand...why would she do that? - "**_

_**" - Because she went nuts! - " **_**Bass sighed before he went on. **_**" - She's mad at me for not fighting you. - "**_

**Suddenly everything that Proto Man was telling him made a lot more sense. **_**" - Alright, I'll look for her. - "**_

**Mega Man cut the transmission, and from the look on Proto Man's face he guessed that his brother must have been able to decrypt the radio wave. **

**"You shouldn't look for her." Blues spoke up. "I think that would only make it worse. Instead you should head back to the lab and have Auto give you a full systems check. We don't know what else she may have done to you. I can find Crystal Bot. She might listen to me."**

**"Alright." Mega Man sighed. "This just doesn't seem like her. She and Roll were getting to be such good friends, and I know she cared about Dr. Light...I just don't understand it. Oh, do you need Rush to help you?"**

**At the mention of his name, Rush barked and wagged his tail, but to his disappointment Proto Man shook his head. "No. I've always found my way around before, and I think I'll be fine. You just get back to the lab."**

**"Right!"**

Roll read, "'There was just too much here. All this scene was supposed to acheive was getting Proto Man to look for Crystal, and there was just too much in it that the reader already knew, for one, which is why the conversation with Bass was completely cut out for the second draft. Also, I didn't want Rock to have a clear idea of what Crystal had done to him, and originally I didn't want him suspecting that Crystal Bot had done anything to him at all. That wasn't really possible, hence my final draft. Also, I had Proto Man revealing that he had caught Crystal's scheme in the next scene, so I didn't need to repeat ideas and explain the narrow beam transmission twice.'"

"Can we stop posting scenes from this chapter?" Crystal Bot complained. "It was embarrasing enough then, and I've learned my lesson."

"Okay, we'll just skip to some questions..." Roll turned the page in the book, but her expression immediately curdled once she saw what was next. "Or maybe we'll just skip to the next deleted scene. Her commentary is probably on the next page...oh no..." she groaned loudly, and from his seat Mega Man peered over to get a look.

"What does it say?" he asked.

"It says that I can't skip this part..." the girl-bot in red complained. "Moody wants us to say how we really feel about each other... Sona's supposed to say what she thinks of Proto Man, Proto Man says what he thinks about me, I talk about Bass, Bass talks about Rock, and Rock gets Sona-chan. We all have to be completely honest."

"Why...?" Proto Man asked. "What's the point?"

"I think I understand!" Mega Man guessed. "She wants to determine more about the potential feelings robots are capable of. And it's interesting for the story."

"But I'm not even programmed to have that many feelings..." Bass complained. "She's probably just trying to torture us like she always does."

"I don't know what you're complaining about, Forte-kun." Crystal Bot spoke up. "I'll go first then. I think Proto Man is really nice, especially when he's trying to defend Rock. Heehee, he gets so mad if you try to say something bad about Mega. Watch this: hey Proto Man! Rock's dumb and he sucks and I put a bomb in his foot."

As expected, the loner was less than amused. His expression changed only slightly, but everyone in the room (besides Mega Man, who was staring at his foot with anxiety) was surprised how much anger a slight twitch in his upper lip conveyed.

"Chill out, Proto-kun, I didn't do anything to Rock. But look, see how angsty he gets if you even joke about it? That's so sweet! He's a really good brother! And he's really smart too. He always knows what to say and stuff."

Bass' was only contemptful, but the others agreed with her assessment of Blues. Blues himself smiled a little before he realised that he was up next to answer his own part of the question.

"Um, I have to talk about Roll..."

And suddenly he was at a loss for words. Stuttering for a moment as he watched the smiling, expectant Roll, Proto Man attempted to answer.

"I'm...not entirely sure what to think. I haven't really spoken to her much over the years. Mainly the only reason I saw Rock at times was because Rock frequently left the lab...and I did not want to go near the lab." Proto Man promptly clammed up, before sighing and trying to give his sister some positive feedback. "Though maybe I can make up for some lost time."

Roll grinned happily, but as she turned the page in the book, what she read stunned her. "It...it says here that you used to think I was an automaton that was programmed just to serve Dr. Light and pretend to be happy all the time..."

The others looked over at Proto Man, who remained in control of himself. "I'm sad to say that that's true. I even used to think that Rock was just built with minimal personality AI, built only to protect humans. But that was a very long time ago, and when I saw how different my illusions were compared to the real Rock, I knew that you had to be different as well. I'm sorry about it, but it's not what I think of you now."

Roll uncertainly played with the edge of the page, look at her brother with a new light, realising that his illusions hadn't just been about their creator. "Well...oh, of course I forgive you! I used to think that you were a dangerous rogue and you were going to hurt Rock."

Proto Man looked at her with amusement. "No you didn't. You didn't even think that when I _was_ a rogue trying to hurt Rock."

The girl-bot would have blushed if she could. "Aw, okay I admit it. I was always hoping that you would turn out to be good even before I knew you were our brother."

Bass was puzzled. "Wait, what? When was this?"

"It was well before your time." Roll mentioned. "Oh wait, I'm supposed to say my true opinion of you now...great...um, well Bass is pretty scary. And he's sort of a jerk-"

"No he's not!" Crystal Bot interjected.

Roll decided not to bother arguing about it. "I used to hate him for being so mean to Rock, but when I saw how nice he was to Dr. Light it was like seeing an almost completely different robot. I don't understand him, but he really does have a nice, sensitive side. I think maybe he really is a good person."

As she looked to see the dark robot's reaction, she noticed that he was grinning. Not in an altogether pleasant way either. His lips slowly parted, revealing all of his teeth and his two sharp fangs. His red irises gleamed with violence, and the overall effect was quite disturbing, only made worse when his deep voice made its hideous, malevolent growlings.

_**"Thanks, Roll..."**_

Barely holding back a scream, Roll backed against the opposite side of her chair, trembling. "Can...can somebody trade seats with me?"

"AHAHAHAA!" Bass couldn't contain himself. "I've still got it!"

"Forte-kun, I think that was a bit much." Crystal Bot giggled along in spite her comment.

"I know it was." Mega Man let his sister take his seat at the other side of the stage. "Honestly, what's the point of scaring her?"

"It's fun, for your information." Bass was still grinning, but it had far less affect on the blue bomber.

"Oh, hey Forte, it's your turn to talk. You have to say what you think about Rock." Crystal Bot mentioned.

"Crap..." the dark robot grimaced. "Okay, I think Rock's a self-righteous ponce that's tolerable from time to time. Next!"

"Huh-uh, Bass." Roll decided that she was going to smirk this time. "GrimMoody says that you have to be more specific."

"Urgh...fine. I think...Rock's...a decent guy." Bass choked on every word. "Annoying most of the time, but...he's...not lame. What the crap does she want me to say?"

"She wants you to confess something."

"You're lying! That's not in the book!"

Roll held out GrimMoody's book, holding it open at the appropriate page. "Do you want to see for yourself?"

Bass sighed though gritted teeth, sinking down into his chair. "Okay, fine. I'm jealous of Rock. Happy now?"

Grumpy, Bass stared at the floor, hoping Mega Man wouldn't say anything. He didn't, but Proto Man did.

"Why would Moody want him to admit that?" he wondered. "Everyone knows that already."

Bass glared at Proto Man, who only smiled in return.

"Now hold on, Bass, you have a lot going for you." Mega Man said, despite that Bass' demure expression clearly indicated that he didn't want any support. "You're really tough, and you're going to explore the world while I'm stuck in Monstropolis. That's something."

"I guess...and my design _is _better than yours." Bass mentioned, feeling a bit better now that he was mocking someone. "Why did Light make you entirely blue? That's stupid."

"I think it was because blue is fade-resistant, or something..." Mega Man guessed. "This one scientist at the time said there was evidence that the color blue protects things from sun or radiation damage. I'm not sure if that's true or not. But I like blue!"

"Whatever."

"You're the last one, Rock." Roll spoke up. "You have to say your honest opinion about Crystal Bot."

Crystal nervously twitched her fingers, starting to find new ways to fidget as Mega Man spoke.

"I think that she's perfectly sweet!" Mega Man announced. "She's always trying to build things for people. Like when she built Dub for Roll, and how she helped build the Proto Jet. She's always thinking of how to help others."

"...That's it?" Crystal asked.

"Yeah."

"No secrets annoyance to confess?" Proto Man asked, making Crystal glower at him. "You weren't angry at her for trying to steal your data?"

"No, she was just trying to be helpful. Since she's transitioning into being a good guy, she's bound to make a mistake or two. And she did apologize. Really, nobody could be a better technician for Bass. He really needs a lot of support and encouragement, especially now that he's changing his life for the better. Crystal Bot is always saying good things about him, and she really believes in him! She's really very sweet."

"And I'm cute!" Crystal Bot winked innocently.

"And you're cute." Mega Man agreed with a happy smile.

Bass, starting to get sick of the corniness, buried his face in his hands.

"Hey you guys!" Roll exclaimed. "We only have one more chapter's worth of deleted scenes to go, and then one more question! Alright Auto, let's get it done!"

- All from Chapter 15

**"Well, that's boring." Crystal Bot complained to Bass, who had just returned to the lab. "I can't believe that you didn't even get to fight Zero."**

**Bass shrugged, but it was Proto Man that responded. "What bothers me is that there was no one else there. Not even mechaniloids. Normally Wily would go out of his way to ensure that his plans are well guarded."**

**"It's has been while since you really hung around Wily." Crystal Bot said as Auto finally let her unplug herself from the computer that had scanned her for any remains of the virus. "And he always did act really weird about Zero. I'm sure he didn't put any robots there because he didn't want them to know about Zero then get captured and hacked and then the authorities would know everything. I'm still really surprised he even was going to let me finish Zero, though...that program he had on me..."**

**"Say it." Bass urged her, rolling his eyes. "And no crying about it either."**

**Crystal Bot looked down and sighed, hopping off of the repair table. "That program, if it had worked and I really did fix Zero...Auto found out that all my memories would be destroyed, so that I would not only forget Zero, but you, Forte, and being a good guy and...Crystal Man. I'd be starting over from nothing. I don't think I could cry about Wily, Forte-kun. I really want to feel sorry for him, but...he really did bring this on himself."**

**At that point, Mega Man teleported in, pulled off his helmet, and ran his hand through his hair. "Hi, everyone. Nothing to report from Monstropolis. Not one robot master or mechaniloid at all. I'm surprised that you two are back so soon. What happened with Zero?"**

**"Almost nothing." Bass replied sourly. "He couldn't even fight back. There was no one guarding him, and Proto Man didn't even get anything valuable from the computers."**

**"That's anti-climatic." Mega Man scratched his head. "It really doesn't sound like Wily at all."**

**"Eh, those stupid robot masters must have run off and hid somewhere. They're idiots."**

**There was silence, and it wasn't broken until an impatient Bass got fed up. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting out of here. I've been stuck in one place since I was built, and I'm sick of it. It's about time I saw what's out there in the world. Come on, Sonata, let's go."**

**"You want me to come too?" the girl-bot looked at him with surprise. "Really?"**

**\\\\**

**"Yeah. I figure if I'm by myself for too long I'll turn out like that guy." Bass roughly shoved his thumb back in the direction of Proto Man.**

**Blues lifted an eyebrow. "And what's wrong with me?"**

**"Oh, I see what you mean." Crystal Bot nodded with a giggle, more to aggravate Proto Man than anything else. **

**\\\\\**

**"I thought you said that Zero was in Russia." Proto Man mentioned casually.**

**"That was my last lead. Wily could've moved him. Sooner or later I would have found signs of it. Wily wasn't the most subtle person in the world."**

**Proto Man nodded, not pressing the matter any further. That made sense. **

**Scanning the terrain, they found nothing at first, but then Treble began to read an energy signature coming from further in. Readying their busters, the robots waited with tense expection for some robot master to show up. But no one came. As they went further, they began to suspect that something was wrong, and that they had somehow come to the wrong place.**

**"Ugh, if I have to go through that stupid border crap again for nothing..." Bass muttered to himself.**

**Proto Man however, was a more patient observer. Almost immediately he pointed to a little white skull, barely visible in the cave wall. Pressing it, the eyes started to glow, and a panel of rock moved aside to reveal a small keypad and a tiny screen. Bass inputted the password, and another stone, this one as large as a door (for in fact it was a door), opened. **

**The inside of the place was a small lab, very small. The computers inside were not at full power, as Wily had obviously designed this place to be as undetectable as possible to Canadian robots or authorities. But the computers were not interesting at all to Bass, who promptly bypassed them for the capsule in the back of the small room, which dwarfed all of the surroundings by its size. Whoever this Zero was, he was going to be huge. Treble growled with ferocity at the capsule.**

**"You'd better back away." Bass warned Proto Man. "There's telling what he'll do when I get this thing open."**

**Blues did so, but only because he wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. He glanced suspicously around at the many consoles, and he started to hack the data from them onto an UltraStore disc.**

**Bass pressed several buttons on the side of the console, and it immediately opened with a sudden **_**whoosh**_**. Bass aimed, but the robot within didn't stir. Cautiously keeping aware, the dark robot observed the machine before him in disgust. Zero did in fact somewhat resemble Proto Man, though only somewhat. The red and white color scheme was there, and the face had one or two similarities. But Bass' prevailing observation was that Zero was ugly. The new style armor was tacky, and the two green whatever-those-things-were on his chest, as well as Zero's long hair, only made him look a bit girlish. However, despite the tackiness of the robot, he somehow was...intimidating. Bass shook his head, refusing to think like that. **

_**"It's probably just because he's so tall..."**_** Bass grudgingly made the excuse and reached over to power up Zero.**

**"You should just destroy him without turning him on, Bass." Proto Man spoke up. "It doesn't make sense to risk him escaping."**

**"I know what I'm doing! Besides, it'd be lame to just off him when he's helpless. Where's your honor? I don't think Rock would agree with that."**

**"Rock isn't always right." Proto Man remarked, thinking how ironic it was that Bass lectured him on honor. **

**But Blues knew that Bass was going to ignore him, so it didn't surprise him in the least when Bass reached over and pushed a button on Zero, activating him.**

**"Come on!" the dark robot snarled. "Fight me!"**

**And...nothing. **

**"Is he really this incomplete?" Bass couldn't believe it, and he cursed a curse so disgusting that it would kill a puppy (though fortunately no puppy was near enough to hear it). "This sucks!"**

**Proto Man rolled his eyes, avoiding commenting on it. There was nothing to say. Bass, giving up, sighed and admitted to himself that it couldn't be helped. Sick of the cold, unmoving face of Zero, rage built up in Bass. He couldn't stand to see that stupid, face, one that looked so much like Wily's (and his own, if he'd noticed), so he promptly punched it in, leaving the immoble robot unrecognisable. Bass continued punching Zero and ripping out all of his circuitry, making sure that as little as possible was still in intact. Finally he blasted the CPU one last time and stood over the remains with satisfaction.**

**"Good riddance, **_**brother**_**." Bass whispered in mockery.**

**"Let's detonate this place before we go." Proto Man mentioned as the dark robot approached to check his progress. "No sense in letting any potentially dangerous people find it."**

**"Fine by me." Bass shrugged. "Though won't we get in trouble if we don't at least tell the Canadian government or something?"**

**"Not if we don't tell them." **

**That got a laugh. "You sure you're Rock's brother?"**

**"And we won't have to tell him either." Blues said. **

**Bass smirked. "What else doesn't he know?"**

**"A lot." Proto Man pulled the UltraStore disc out of the disc drive. "Alright, it's done."**

**\\\\\\**

**Auto turned around, scratching his head. "As far as I can figure, this virus was designed specifically to take over Crystal's mind, deleting her entire memory after she finished completing Zero."**

**The girl-bot shuddered. "And then I'd be another robot master...it's so scary! I know he didn't want to risk any robot knowing about Zero's location and then getting hacked, but...I can't believe Wily would do that to me..."**

**"Stop that now!" Bass said sharply. "Don't even go there! He doesn't deserve pity!"**

**"No, I don't pity him. I really can't. He brought this on himself." she quietly mused, her voice gaining a dark tinge. "For what he did to us...and to my dad. He wasn't really sorry, that stupid liar..."**

**Auto put a hand on Crystal Bot's shoulder, interrupting her bitter musings. She looked up and smiled thankfully at him. Though Auto's jaw was unyielding, he smiled back with his eyes.**

**"So what you're saying is," Mega Man asked. "That virus was only meant for Crystal Bot, and not for other robots?"**

**"That's what it looks like." Auto answered. "I don't think Wily's going to be starting any epidemic!"**

**"I doubt he'll let us get away without some sort of revenge...unless fighting all those robots was supposed to be it."**

**\\\\\\**

**"I don't! Yay for science!" she cheered, jumping up in air with excitement. "Come on, Treble, let's go now!"**

**The wolf, who had been patiently sitting next to his master, got up to his feet and wagged his tail. He barked at Rush, for once pleasantly. Rush happily barked back, and both dogs' tails whipped back and forth merrily. Letting Crystal Bot pet him one last time, he converted to jet mode. His master and technician climbed aboard, and Crystal waved one last time at Rock and company before all three teleported out of the lab. **

**Bass felt lighthearted, or as lighthearted as somone like him could get, anyway. The night air was cool, and already they were yards and yards away from the lab; its white walls almost glowed. But it quickly shrank and disappeared out of sight. So too did any sign of Monstropolis' skyscrapers and star-like city lights, hiding behind the hills that the three passed. The ocean, large and looming, was coming up quickly.**

**"Do you wanna teleport there?" Crystal Bot asked, inwardly hoping that he wouldn't.**

**"No. The best part of seeing the world is traveling. You'll never see anything if you just worry about only getting there."**

**"Okay."**

**She said nothing else, which was a relief to Bass. The girl-bot talked too much. Forte just wanted to enjoy the quiet of it all. Every since his creation, his main comfort in life had been traveling, getting away from the idiocy of the robot masters and the constant demands of the evil Wily. It was the only time he had been able to call his own, and he loved the scenery, the silence -**

_**" - Hey Bass, are you still there? - "**_

**Grimacing, the dark robot stifled a hideous curse. The last thing he wanted was Crystal Bot learning a new phrase that would only annoy him if she repeated it. Simultaneously stifling the urge to teleport back to the lab and punch Roll in the face, Bass answered, **_**" - What do you want, Roll? - "**_

_**" - Sorry to bother you, I just wanted to let you know something. Everybody was wondering what to do with Wily's body, and well, I just happened to mention that since he's had such an effect on robotics, there's only one place for him: the robot museum. - "**_

**Laughing out loud, Bass couldn't control himself. This definitely made up for not getting to fight Zero. **_**" - You're awesome! You're officially awesome! I can't believe you did that! Ahahaaha! - "**_

**Crystal Bot could decode all of the transmissions that Bass could, so she rolled her eyes, adding, **_**" - You guys are horrible. He's already in real hell, he doesn't need to be in robot hell too. - "**_

_**" - Don't listen to her for a second, you did a great job! - "**_** Bass just couldn't stop laughing. It was theraputic. **_**" - This is exactly what Wily deserves! - "**_

**Though she didn't feel the same way about the museum, Roll laughed too. **_**" - I thought you would like that. See you guys later! Hey, Sona-chan, bring me back a yukata, okay? - "**_

_**" - A red one, right? - "**_

_**" - But of course! - "**_

\\\\\\\\

**"When will that be?"**

**Proto Man could sense the longing in his brother's voice, and he wasn't going to disappoint Rock. "If you don't see me sooner, know that I'll be here for Christmas."**

_**" - Hey, you mean I'm gonna have to wait until next year to give you your present? Lame! - "**_

**Crystal Bot's voice could be heard by both Rock and Blues, even though the monitoring system was only hooked up to Mega Man. The blue bomber grimaced, wishing he had remembered to cut off his monitoring option when he went to find Proto Man.**

_**" - Crystal, how much of our conversation did you hear? - "**_

_**" - She only just turned on the monitoring system just a second ago. - " **_**It was Auto's voice that reassured them. **_**" - But come on, Proto Man! We have a surprise waiting for you back at the lab! - "**_

_**" - What is it? - "**_

_**" - If you don't come back now, - " **_**Crystal giggled. **_**" - Then you'll never find out! - "**_

**"Looks like you don't have a choice." A jolly Mega Man said, hoping that his brother would give in.**

_**" - ...Alright, I'll at least take a look. - "**_

Roll read Grimm's commentary. "_'Aigoo_! This chapter had so many stupid rewrites! Conveying all I wanted to convey without overloading the chapter was nuts. You're only seeing the more interesting bits of all that I cut out. Also, making Proto Man go with Bass to destroy Zero was definitely a mistake, as this was rightfully an emotional conflict between Bass and his would-be replacement. While I like some of Proto Man's dialogue at the end...wasn't worth it. And it wasn't like Proto Man to hang out too much with the others anyway. He prefers to be in situations he has a way out of, and he feels a lot of obigation to his family, making him want to leave even more.

"'Most of all I really hated how Crystal and Auto were interrupting the Mega Man/Proto Man conversation, as that's not something Auto would allow and something Proto Man would think of as very rude.' Okay you guys, that's the last of the commentary, so now here's the last question: who is your favorite reviewer?"

Proto Man answered first. "Josunurashima makes some interesting comments. He doesn't simply accept what Moody writes, and that's a good thing. He's probably a better writer than her."

Bass was next, and laughed while he answered. "Anmynous. I like how he _only_ comments when GrimMoody makes a mistake."

"I can't decide! I really like all of them!" Mega Man said. "But I'll go ahead and say Lalalei. You can tell she's really connecting to the story. But I think she's being too nice. After all, GrimMoody is a hack, and pretending that she's not doesn't help anyone in the end. Only if people like Lalalei are honest will she learn to write well and then they'll have something good to read. Hm...I do wonder what happened to Tylterra though. She seemed nice."

"Forte-kun let me read the reviews this time, but I still can't decide!" Crystal Bot exclaimed. "I really like MungoJerry because his name sounds like a monkey, but Clzh and Clzh-X have cool names too! Every time I think about them I think of floating robot heads. I wanna build floating robot heads now! But then again, I think Mungo is likes me the best, so he wins! Who's your favorite, Roll-chan?"

"Hm...I like Numbervania. He seems really cool. I bet it would be fun to meet him real life. But..." Roll sighed and stared at her hands. "Why didn't anybody mention me in the reviews? Doesn't anyone like me?"

"No." Bass answered. "You're annoying and you never do anything interesting anyway."

That stung Roll like an electric shock. Her mouth fell open, and stared at the dark robot, hoping that she would at least get an apology.

"Ha, you're not going to cry now, are you little girl?"

"Bass?" Mega Man sighed.

"What?"

The blue robot answered with a swift fist to the face. Forte flew backwards over his chair and hit the ground with a thud. Only a second later, however, Bass was back to his feet. He sent his chair flying at Proto Man, then grabbed Rock by the neck as the blue bomber started charging his buster.

"YAY!" Crystal Bot screamed. "Go Forte-kun! You can beat him!"

"Erg..." Bass suddenly remembered his commitment to avoiding fights with his rival. He glared back at his technician as he dropped Mega Man. The bomber glared at Bass, but allowed his charge to dissipate as he went over to check on his brother. Proto Man was alright, and he pushed the half-collapsed remains of the chair aside as Mega Man approached.

"Wow, that was really smart, Sona-chan." Roll said. "Thanks for making him stop."

"Um, yeah...I totally did that on purpose...you're welcome!"

"Bass..." Mega Man said. "You need to - "

"Hey, we're done with the questions and all that crap." the dark robot interrupted grumpily. "Let's get out of here. The door should be open now. What does the book say?"

Roll, however, had no intention of reading another word. She folded her arms, her eyes glinting with stubbornness.

"Well do you want to get out of here or not?"

The maid-bot sighed. She turned the page to the last one she had read, but as she looked at it - "Hey, these words are changing! But this is just a book! How could that happen? Unless..."

A voice from seemingly nowhere filled the room, and before all of them their not-so-esteemed author appeared before them. "Okay, you figured it out. Took you long enough. Dang it, I have magical author powers! How in the crap did you expect to kill me? That is not acceptable!"

"Um...for the record, I'm sorry." Mega Man said.

"So noted. But...too late!" GrimMoody firmly pounded her fist into the podium. "It's time for punishments! First of all, Bass, your punishment is you now have to write a love poem to Queen Sunstar."

"No way!" Bass snapped. "I don't do poetry!"

"I can make it worse...you know..."

"Whatever. I can handle whatever a hack like you can dish out."

GrimMoody snapped her fingers, and Bass immediately changed colors.

"Hey...why am I all blue? And why does it say 'Mega Fanboy' on my buster...GRIMM!"

"Say a poem or else!" Moody pointed a finger in his face.

"FINE! Okay...um...  
Roses are red,  
Violets are blue,  
Sunstar, if you're lucky  
I will not shoot you."

The others immediately burst out in laughter. Bass cringed, sulking. "I don't know anything about poetry or love! That's as good as I can write so deal with it!"

"Haha, okay, that's good." GrimMoody laughed. "Now it's Mega Man's turn. You have to fight Aqua Man."

"NOOO!"

"And Proto Man, your punishment is you can't save him."

"But...but..."

"No buts!"

GrimMoody snapped her fingers again, and both of them teleported out. On the screen at the back of the stage, an image appeared of a terrified blue bomber fighting Aqua Man in a concrete prison cell. Proto Man was in the next cell, his foot chained to a hook a wall.

"Oh! That's so mean!" Crystal Bot exclaimed. "Ha, ha! That's what you get, you lame-butt!"

"I know you're not making fun of someone I'm trying to punish, CB." GrimMoody folded her arms, glaring with authoritarian disdain at her creation. "After all, you're not exactly uninvolved. Your punishment is this: all of your technological knowledge is deleted...now!"

The author snapped her fingers once more, and the trembling OC gasped, holding her hands against her head in horror. Gasping, she began to tremble, and her bottom lip began to protrude.

"Why?" her weak voice was hardly audible. "Why would you do that?"

Her hands covered her face as she sobbed, weakly at first. It soon grew out to full-on crying, and she shook with grief. Roll tried to comfort her friend, looking up with disapproval at Moody.

"Uh...Crystal...um..." GrimMoody's resolve was starting to waver. "Stop...stop it...I was just trying to be funny..."

"Waaaaaahh..." Crystal kept on going, trying to speak through her sobs. "But...but...science is my life...why...why did you do this to me...waaaaaah...I'm so useless now!"

GrimMoody bit her lip. "Okay, that's definitely not funny anymore. I'm done. Everybody's punishments are reversed."

_" - Good job, Sonata. - "_ Bass sent her a transmission.

_" - Thanks. I practiced in front of a mirror. - "_

Bass turned back into his normal colors, more than a little relieved to see that the offensive words on his buster were gone. Aqua Man suddenly imploded, letting both Mega Man and Proto Man teleport back onto the stage, just in time for them to hear Crystal Bot's joyous, ear-splitting squeal as she noticed all of her data returning.

"Hey, you didn't do anything to Roll." Bass pointed out.

"Don't remind her!" Mega Man exclaimed.

"Meh, I'm not going to." Moody said. "I'm done. But seriously, guys, if you just made the most of the Bonus Feature show then the reviewers would have something nice to read and you'd actually enjoy yourselves."

"Not likely." Bass snorted. "Come on, Sonata, let's go."

"Ahem. The door's still not open."

"How do we open it then?" Mega Man asked.

"_You _don't. Bass opens it by saying the magic words...to Roll."

Roll giggled as Bass' whole face bunched up into a snarling frown.

"You better say it, Forte." Crystal for once criticized her boss. "You were being mean."

"Fine...Roll, I'm sorry for calling you annoying and uninteresting. You don't suck that bad."

Everyone scowled at Bass.

"Okay, you don't suck at all! Happy?"

"Yes!" Roll was a little ashamed of herself for it, but she was actually glad that Bass was getting what he deserved.

The robots all departed, talking amongst themselves. Out of all of them, only Proto Man looked back at the author before departing. And as they passed through the door, all their memories of the Bonus Features segment disappeared forever.

"Sheesh, those guys...anyway!" GrimMoody cheerfully said to the camera. "So, place your bets! Who survives the robot apocalypse? Proto Man? Mega? An obscure robot master I haven't mentioned yet? One of the Cain-bots? Nobody at all? And who stops Zero from wreaking havoc? What happens with X? Place your bets, and see you next time!"


	17. Secret Chapter

Mega Man descended the stairs with his helmet under his arm, hearing several strange noises and mutterings coming from the ground floor's computer lab. Coming from his room, Mega Man found Bass working on one of the repair tables, with Crystal Bot in several pieces on it. The dark robot was completely focused, sternly concentrating on some tricky wiring. He was saying something to himself as he worked, but the screwdriver between his teeth made it difficult to understand.

"Hi, Bass." Rock greeted him. "Just so you know, Agent Reyes is going to be here this afternoon. He just called. Hm? What are you doing?"

"Working on Crystal." Bass pulled the screwdriver from his mouth and stared with annoyance at her innards. "She wants be to be able to work on her and Treble in emergencies."

After a moment of his staring, Bruce flitted down and landed on the repair table, tweeting a few notes.

"I know that!" Bass scolded the bird. "I just want to make sure I get it right. Now go get out of here and find out where Treble went. I have to work on him next."

"Oh, well, don't worry if you make a mistake." Mega Man said with distraction, watching as the little pipi flew out of the room. "I'm sure Auto wouldn't mind fixing any errors you accidently cause."

Mega Man barely dodged the green-armored leg that zoomed quickly in his direction, thankful that the dent that now marked the wall was instead not a dent in his own head.

"I've **got it**, Rock!"

"Well, you don't have to be a jerk about it!" the little blue hero answered, thankful for his last round of agility upgrades as he picked up the girl-bot's leg and put it back on the table. "What are you working on now?"

"Eh, just the crystal formation generator. I'm almost done, but then I have to do a manual hidden file scan and replace some old joint clamps. Hm, I might as well get started on those. Hand me those new clamps over there."

Mega did so. "Wow, these clamps look pretty amazing. What company are they from?"

"None. She made them herself." Bass grinned as if he could take the credit. "It's made from similar material as my armor. Hmm...that scan can start now..."

Bass pushed some buttons on the console next to the repair table that Crystal Bot was hooked into, getting the scan started with the input of several complicated passwords in half a dozen languages. He let it run as he went to remove Crystal's old clamps. Mega Man checked his buster before glancing curiously at the console.

"Is she worried about viruses or something?"

"No." Bass answered with a mild growl, starting to wish that Mega Man would go away. "She just thinks I should know how how scanning works. It's not really that complicated, and I don't think I'll find anything-"

The console made a short beeping noise, followed by three more in quick succession. Stunned, the dark robot leaned over and looked at it. "Uh...never mind...there's something. But it's not a virus, it's a text file and some command subroutines..."

"It's not something hidden by Crystal so you know if you succeeded, is it?"

Bass didn't answer. Instead he just pushed more buttons, and a typed note appeared on a nearby monitor. Both his and Mega Man's chins dropped in shock: the message was from Crystal Man.

"Wow! What does it say?" Mega Man got closer for a better look.

They both read the note silently, and it contained this message:

_My dear daughter,_

_If all goes well then this message should appear after your repair in the house of Light. Hopefully my programming skills are sufficient for this message to appear once your alternate AI is properly installed, and you have been able to ascertain your exact situation. The work has been complicated, and this is not something I enjoy. For your sake I pray that all this goes well. _

_Up til now my plans have likely been somewhat unclear to you, but circumstances would not allow me to explain properly. You may yet be under the false assumption that you were created to take my place at Wily's side, created to serve as his technician and to have the sort of personality that he would not soon be ready to destroy. To a small extent is this true, but I now confess that I do not wish you to serve the master at all._

_You see, I have long studied the religious works of the humans around me, for the sake of my master, though he would then strangely take little notice of what I had learned. In all of these studies, I have taken note of one strange circumstance: that which we do, the stealing, the killing, and the destroying, is all looked down upon by most of the religions, particularly those with a guiding spirit or spirits that look ill upon selfish motives. The only exception to this appears to be Islam, as the religion (according to my understanding of it) seems to support the notion of violent murder under the guise of martyrdom. If you will forgive my intrusion of your free will, I have already programmed you to dislike this system of belief. I cannot bear the thought that you should ever tolerate such mindless vulgarity._

_Over time I have come to abhor the acts that the master has done and ordered us to perform as well. It would seem to contradict the principles that civilizations, peoples, and families have lived by since the beginning of time. The master has been kind to few of us over the years, and then not often. As the guardian of my seven followers, I took on the responsiblity of liberating them, though I cannot speak of this to them at this time. Hence your construction. I have done everything to hide my true motives from the master, and this message shall be included with your spare AI that I have left with my chosen assistant. You will know who this is, so I will not risk saying this person's name here. I fear that there is enough here that should trouble you if it were found._

_And so you were not created for Wily. You were instead created to serve the champion Forte, for a time. If you recieve this message, then you shall be free, but your uncles and I shall not. You must bargain a deal with the dark one, and enable him destroy his blue rival. I am not comfortable with the idea of destroying a hero of good, but I cannot deny the programming within me: I do not like Mega Man. Nor do I have a choice in this matter, if I am to truly serve my team and bring them to freedom._

_Upgrade Forte and enable him to destroy the blue one, only if he will in turn liberate Team 5 from the master. Only he can do this. Out of the Wily numbers, very few of us are intelligent enough to desire to leave, and Forte is the only one with the strength to do so. He also has more freedom than the rest of us, and if you remove Wily's control failsafes, I have little doubt that he should free Team 5. And once he has defeated his most glorious enemy, I see no reason why he should not allow you to go; he seems to prefer the company of none but his dog._

_Also, there is another matter that concerns Forte. You must apologize to him for me, if I cannot. There was a time, when he encountered the plans of you I had drawn up, quite on accident. I doubt that he would have spoken of it to the master, as such would not be his nature, and I am not certain he understood what it was, or that it was done without the master's permission. But from time to time Forte's memories are checked, and I could not risk Wily seeing this memory. Certainly he would understand what I have done. Though I am usually forbidden to repair him, good fortune showed itself and I had the perfect opportunity to delete any mention of this from Forte's mind, though I was forced also to delete other memories to avoid suspicion. Please tell him that I am sorry, and I tried to delete only his most unimportant memories, such as his arguments with the master. I doubt he will desire to remember those._

_And I apologize to you as well, my daughter. It pains me to use you in such a way, but certainly you must understand why I have. It is troublesome to me that I have built you into a scientist, something I myself can hardly tolerate. But it was necessary for all of our sakes. I desire to ask your opinion, and yet you cannot have opinions at all until you are programmed to have them. Do the gods themselves face such a debate when they breathe life into the humans? I cannot but guess. But for your sake, I have made science tolerable to you. It is not an easy thing to do something that you hate, and I feel that is a worse crime against you then putting you in the shoes of a controlled observer._

_I do not want you to serve the Lights, either, so you must remember these tasks:_

_- Speak to Forte at once and tell him what I have instructed you. There is a program here that will allow you to temporarily block the monitoring systems, so the master will not see you speak to him. Give him also the first file I have hidden with this message. It includes a spoken command that will enable him to take control of you should the master reattempt to align you to his service. Please tolerate this failsafe. If you must serve someone, let it be someone who knows oppression first hand, and is reluctant to do the same to others. Forte is more just than he knows, and he will rescue you from Wily without hesitation. I foresee this._

_- When you can, give the upgrades I have included to Team 5, and begin with Gravity Man as he will be able to help you upgrade the others once he also has become a technician. It was foolish for the master to choose myself over Gravity Man when deciding on a technical assistant. I have no upgrades for Forte, unfortunately, but if I do my job correctly, then you shall have the intelligence to create better ones than I can._

_Farewell, my daughter, and if things go well we shall see each other again soon. I know I am not equipped to understand the subject of love, but I nonetheless feel that I can say I love you with complete sincerity._

_Crystal Man_

"Aww...that's so sweet!" Mega Man gushed, despite being a little disquieted by some of the letter's content. "You really should show this to Crystal Bot. She would love it! But this really doesn't explain why he made upgrades for Roll too. How would it help him if she could fight?"

Bass' reaction was the opposite. "What crap is this? He thinks he can just delete my memories and get away with it? I thought it was the evil energy that messed up my head! If he weren't dead I'd kill him again!"

"You're overreacting."

"Let someone delete your memories and see how you feel about it."

Mega Man shook his head. "He's trying to compliment you here. After all, he says you're intelligent and just, and he built you Crystal Bot."

Bass leaned back in his chair, folding his arms in annoyance. "At least I know why she won't shut up about killing you. That's easily fixed. Probably one of these hidden files makes her do that."

"I'll let you get to it, then." Rock pulled his helmet over his head, flattening his wavy hair. "I've got to meet the police chief. Hm, you really should delete that control override thing he included. It wouldn't be right if you could force Crystal Bot to obey you. It's not like you need that anyway."

"Yeah, she's pretty obedient...most of the time." Bass answered as he started pressing buttons on the console.

Mega Man went for the door, and he turned back before going. "See you later!"

"Get out of here, geek, before you're late for your meeting."

Rock, used to Bass' goodbyes, simply left. Once the blue robot was gone, Bass waited only a minute more, looking in the direction Mega Man had departed before getting to work. He accessed the first hidden subroutine, looking at the code for the failsafes that he could use to control his technician. Then he promptly deleted the file from her head, and backspaced out any mention of the failsafe in Crystal Man's letter. After all, there was no sense in letting a good program go to waste, the dark robot figured. It might come in handy. Team 5 wouldn't understand that, so it was better that they didn't know about it.

\\\\\

Author's notes:

- Secret chapter! For a while I was going to include this in the bonus features, because I wasn't sure where it could fit in the plot. But then I realized that it would work just fine chronologically after the last chapter. So there you go!

Well, might as well do a character profile.

==== Bruce (Clef)

**"Tweet, tweet.**"

Good point: clever

Bad point: watches everyone

Likes: annoying Mega Man

Dislikes: being alone

Bruce is a little pipi, or one of those little brown birds that pops out of an egg when dropped by the mother pipi in Mega Man 2. He isn't very talkative. He loves to watch people simply for the sake of knowing everything, and he absolutely loves driving Mega batty. However, as a pipi who has lots of siblings, he doesn't like being left to himself for any amount of time. This is basically just a reference to the pipies' strength in numbers, and the fact that they are one of the series' most annoying bad guys, including Big Eyes (from the first game), Moles (from MM2 and MM&B) and Tellies (from several games, including MM9). Bruce is really looking forward to his upcoming 24 siblings that Crystal found and is going to repair.

Sadly Bruce doesn't have that much personality, as it goes with pipies, and he is not as intelligent as other robot assistants, such as Rush. However, he does have stealth knowledge and the technical knowledge that Crystal Bot gave him, so he makes do. Crystal also plans to upgrade him into greater detail, so that if a robot happens to see him at a distance, they will think Bruce is a real bird instead of just a pipi.

- Hey you guys, before I head out, how about one more deleted scene? This one I thought about a lot while writing Okkusenman, and but it never really fit anywhere in the story. I do consider it canon to the plot, though. It's just a cute little thing where Crystal Bot meets Dust Man.

**Crystal Bot wandered along the edges of Dr. Cossack's laboratory. She had never been this far away from a city since she had been built, and the beautiful winter snows were too beautiful to go uninvestigated. Happily tromping through the snow and enjoying her footprints, Crystal didn't at first realize that she was headed straight for the junkyard. But once she saw it, she decided that she liked it. The intruigue of technology, even broken, was too much. She felt like it needed her.**

**All the same, when she started to pass between the large piles of metal, a sense of reverence came over the girl-bot. Whatever was not cars or other now-garbage had once been robots, and as she saw the faces and limbs of her kind (though mostly mechaniloids), Crystal Bot couldn't help feel that the place was rather like a cemetery. She twitched, wondering if she had made the right decision to come in once the sound of crushed metal hit her ears.**

**Coming into a rather noisy clearing, Crystal Bot stopped. There, among all the wrecks and scraps, was one robot, still operational. With calm methodology, the giant blue and black robot, with an odd sort of square vacuum on his head operated a huge magnet on a crane. This he used to bring piles of robots and place inside of a crusher, until it had reached capacity. Then he pulled a lever, and slowly the walls closed in. The shrieking metal cried out as everything inside compressed and flattened, heading for the incinerator to be melted away. The lonely robot stared at this meditatively, undisturbed by the brutality of it all.**

**Crystal shuddered, afraid. She had always known that old robots were scrapped, but this was the first time that she had actually seen anything like it be carried out. She covered her eyes, unable to look. A movement on the other side of her shaking fingers made her curiousity return, and she looked up.**

**The robot that had been gathering the defunct machines was looking at her. The first thing she noticed about him was that he had no mouth, and then she saw the scuffed and limp buster hanging from his side. Altogether, he looked only just better than the machines he crushed.**

**"Are you broken?" Crystal Bot pointed at his handless arm. "Is that why they gave you this job?"**

**The robot did not respond. He turned back to his machine and pushed the button that would convey away the now flattened metal before returning to the stranger before him.**

**"You must be Dust Man. I'm Crystal Bot. Did Dr. Cossack tell you I was coming to stay for a while? Forte is here too, but he's off...on a mission."**

**Again, no response. Without looking at what he was doing, Dust Man continued to manipulate his huge magnet, placing a pile of broken metal into the smasher. Crystal Bot shuddered, fearfully taking a step back from the sight.**

**"That's scary...how do you do that job? Don't you hate having to crush all of your old friends? They used to be have minds and stuff."**

**Dust Man's eyes softened some, showing a faded sort of resolve, as if he wasn't completely in his surroundings. Crystal, though a bit confused, thought that maybe she understood.**

**"Oh, this must be like your little universe. I'm like that about labs, because I get to work on stuff all day...except now I don't have my own lab. I have to share with Bright Man. Hey Dust Man, isn't Dr. Cossack's a funny place? Every robot that lives here used to work for Wily. It's like this is Dr. Cossack's home for recovering criminals. I hear that Proto Man visits sometimes too."**

**The dirty machine's work went on without a hitch.**

**"You must be a lot braver than I am." Crystal Bot sat down on the now rusted chasis of an old truck. "Is it okay if I hang out here for a while?"**

**Dust Man nodded, then let his attention go back fully to his work. The girl-bot silently watched him. His buster arm piqued her interest again. The trash-bot was using it for pushing buttons, pushing things into place - basically everything other than firing. After a time, she spoke again.**

**"Hey Dusty, don't you ever use your buster for anything? What does it do?"**

**The robot, turning back around, finally responded. **_**" - The buster doesn't do anything. It doesn't work. - "**_

**"Really?" Crystal Bot said. "Well, I'm a technician, and if you want, I can fix it for you."**

_**" - I would appreciate that. - "**_

**The girl-bot grinned happily. Making broken things work again was her favorite thing to do, and besides, Dust Man was so sweet and sad. **

**"Good. I'll just have to think of something that'll help with your job and then I'll make it for you." Crystal Bot swung her guitar over her shoulder. "Y'know, Dust Man, I think you're really cool."**

**The junker did not reply, but even though he had no proper mouth, Crystal Bot could tell that he was smiling. As he went back into his work, Crystal pulled started to strum a few notes as she thought about what weapon to give Dust Man. Maybe something fire related. It would be good in case the incinerator needed help getting started, or if someone was lost in the deep winter snow.**

**Crystal stayed there for at least an hour, but when she eventually did leave, Dust Man wondered when she was going to come back.**

And so there you go! A cute little scene there for you to enjoy - hey, I see you over there! What are you doing? Did you really think you could hide from me?

Appearing from a hidden corner, a long yellow scarf trailed down from the top of the stage, where the lights hung. A moment afterwards, Proto Man jumped down from the ceiling, landing on the stage where Bonus Features had been held, except now it was empty of the chairs and podium.

Proto Man stood still in the middle of the stage, folding his arms with resolution. "I knew you could see me. I wanted to ask you something before I went back and lost all my memories of this non-canon place."

Appearing abruptly before the red and grey robot, the very nerdy GrimMoody smiled. "I'd be a bit disappointed if you didn't show up, to be honest, Proto Man. What's on your mind?"

"It's the reviews." he answered. "You let us read some of them, and there were others you hid from us. I did a little investigating to find out exactly why. So tell me, what is this...'robot apocalypse'?"

The author paused for a moment, her wistful smile not hiding any of the sadness in her eyes. "Go back to your world, Proto. Enjoy yourself. Don't let a little thing like the future stop you from living right now."

"That's a load and you know it." Blues answered, not a little sharpness in his tone.

"That's so." her smile widened into one of irony. "But it's the best advice for you right now. Something you in particular have always had a bit of trouble with. I know you're going to forget in a moment, but I tell you now...what will happen, it has already happened. It's not something that I can change, no matter what I write."

Blues mused over this solemnly. "I...don't understand. Is this fate?"

Grim sighed, not dropping her smile. "Get on, now. Shoo. Protect your brother."

The red and grey robot reluctantly went for the door, which now freely opened. But before he passed through, he turned back to the author. "Is everything useless? Is there nothing I can do?"

"Nothing good is useless." For once the ironic optimism in her eyes faded, and a little anger, but not at Proto Man, revealed itself. "Remember that."

"Will I be able to?"

"Yes." the author answered. "I'll make sure of it. But go. I think in your case knowing the future...is not a good thing."

"That doesn't help." Proto Man said.

He simulated taking a deep breath as he went through the door, the memory of the conversation disappearing from his memory card forever.

GrimMoody turned once more to the camera. "Okay guys, just to let you know, it'll be a bit before I get the next story up, ending the trilogy with the sad connection to the Mega Man X series. I want to make sure the story goes well, and I want to give my brain a break anyway. Start refreshing it with other things before I dive back in. I actually made a casualty list of all the robot masters so that I can keep up with who's available to use. After all, if it's the robot apocalypse, even those hiding Wily-bots have to get it in the end. That reminds me, apparently none of you guys think that any of the Wily-bots are going to make it. Lol. What if I decide I want Plant Man to meet X? Or what if Aqua Man shows up and stops Zero from destroying everybody? Hahaha, okay I wouldn't do that, but still. See you later!"


End file.
